New Face
by Soul Reaver
Summary: Ivy is paired up with a British SAS operative between the years 2000-2004. A little closer to the storyline of the cartoon than my other recent fics. Contains a little of everything.
1. New Face

First Encounter, First Case  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego franchise. The characters Harold "Hal" Olden and Joseph Corso (name borrowed from Titan AE) are my creation. Ivy is 27 in this fic and Zack is 23. The weapons I describe are on Mel's Sniper Page or elsewhere on the web.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
6 May 2000: One of ACME HQ's newest features, a rose garden that had been planted a decade ago was in full bloom again in the spring when a new partnership was formed. The petals were in a profusion of reds, pinks, and whites amongst the green leaves as Ivy Darren walked through it to meet her new partner. From the file she had read about him, he was currently an active member of the British Special Air Service on secondment (exchange tour) in America. Somebody in the British government had the idea of sending one of their SAS operatives to assist members of US Army Delta Force members in training US law enforcement agencies in improving their counterterrorism abilities.  
  
She could see two men standing in the rose garden, talking. The one wearing the woodland DPM (Disruptive Pattern Material) uniform of the British Army had his back to her. The red haired and bearded man wearing Oakley sunglasses she recognized as Major Joseph Corso, Delta Force, the Army's super secret counterterrorist team. He wore civilian clothes and had a beard because many of Delta's missions required them to pose as civilians.  
  
"Speak of the devil." She heard Corso say as Ivy approached.  
  
The British soldier turned around and the look on his face was as if he'd seen a ghost. "Lieutenant?" Corso asked, "Do you know each other?"  
  
"No sir." Ivy replied.  
  
"Yes sir." The British soldier replied, then caught himself, "My apologies sir, no we don't."  
  
"Very well then." Corso replied, "Detective Ivy Darren, this is 1st Lieutenant Harold Olden, British Special Air Service. He's been assigned to you as a new partner."  
  
"Call me Hal. Pleased to meet you." Harold said, formally as they shook hands. Ivy could feel a cold sweat on his hand and the haunted expression on his face hadn't quite faded from his small black eyes which were complimented by his short black hair.  
  
"Likewise." Ivy said, not understanding why the British officer she hadn't even met before seemed so uncomfortable.  
  
"Well, I'd best head over to my apartment and get settled in. Here's my phone number if you need to reach me." Hal replied, "I live in Harbor View."  
  
"Sure Hal." Ivy replied, handing him her phone number and address, "I live in Riverside."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Harold Olden's Apartment; Harbor View.  
  
Hal showered and threw on some civilian clothing, a light green collared button down shirt and a green Royal Marines t-shirt from his early days and a pair of jeans and shoes. It had really been a long flight out from Panama where he had been carrying out operations with a four man detachment from the Regiment before new orders came, assigning him first to Delta Force and now to ACME.  
  
An odd combination, and a four year assignment to boot. He at least knew this assignment was coming, so he had a place to live and even a vehicle worked out. He had purchased a 1997 model desert tan Land Rover SUV which was currently parked in front of the apartment. He heard a knock at the door and answered it.  
  
He saw his partner, the young woman with short auburn hair and brown eyes standing in front of the door. "Hey, I figured I'd help you move in." Ivy said, trying to be friendly.  
  
"Sure, I could use the help." Hal replied as he opened another box and started to put a couple framed photographs in the living room. One of them was a picture of six men, one of them a young Hal, standing astride a steep hill wearing British issue camouflage trousers and boots and t-shirts of various types ranging from general issue green to novelty t-shirts.  
  
"Those are my old mates that I ran Selection with." Hal replied, "From left to right, that's Lucas, Mike, myself, Jim, Mitch, and Chad. We were based in Tidworth, a garrison town, they were from the Army battalion across the street and we'd all gone in and decided to train for Selection together back in 1991."  
  
Ivy put another picture up, this one of Hal and the one she heard him call Lucas sitting in the back of a flatbed pickup truck with a dead antelope in it. Both men had telescopic rifles. "That's from our tour in Kenya in 1990. That's where Lucas and I found out we shared the same dream of joining the SAS."  
  
"What's with the antelope?" Ivy asked.  
  
Hal gave her a half millimeter smile, with the genuine crow's feet showing it was a true grin, "Target practice, and for some fresh food. We were getting sick of our chef's cooking. Bloody ruperts had a fit over that."  
  
"Ruperts?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Officers. Anyone that's a second lieutenant or over is called a Rupert." Hal replied.  
  
"But you're an officer. So you're a Rupert." Ivy declared.  
  
"Correct, it's not always derogatory, either." Hal replied.  
  
"So you're an ex-Royal Marine, eh?" Ivy said, grinning at him, "Maybe sometime we can go to the gym and see how you fair against a colonial and a woman."  
  
"Maybe, but I'd not want to bruise you too badly." Hal replied with an equal grin.  
  
"Arrogance. If that's anything you British are afflicted with, terminally, it's arrogance." Ivy replied.  
  
"Said the pot to the kettle. You Yanks often think you can change the world for the better." Hal replied as he put up another photo, "Somalia in 1993, the entire post Cold War era...."  
  
It was a photograph of a man in his early thirties with a mustache and a flinty eyed, steely visage. A classic warrior from his chiseled face to his black hair, he wore the dress uniform of a captain in the Royal Marines.  
  
At Ivy's curious look Hal replied, "That's my father. He was also an SAS operative."  
  
"How does he feel about his son following his footsteps?" Ivy replied.  
  
"I'd guess he'd be proud. My family says he's dead, my mother having remarried some time ago after he had been reported missing in Oman back in 1975." Hal replied, "I was only four years old then. I followed his route as best I could."  
  
Hal's face wore a stony mask but the sadness from twenty-five years ago was still in his eyes. He put up a map of the world in his bedroom. It had colored tacks in it of the colors red, white and blue as well as a couple clear tacks in the Middle East.  
  
"The white indicates places I've served, the red places I've lost mates of mine, the blue places I'd served after 1991 where I joined the SAS, and the clear were a couple leads on my missing father, which turned out to be false." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy looked at him with genuine sympathy, "Hey, I know it's rough to lose someone you love."  
  
"I never even got to say goodbye. I was born when he was on a short furlow from Oman and I only saw him sporadically for the next four years." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy said, "C'mon, let's take a break. I know a couple good places to eat around here, you must be starving."  
  
"I'm quite famished, actually, having lived on airline food flying from Panama for hours." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Mother Earth's Chinese Restaurant, Chinatown.  
  
"So let me get this straight," Hal said, "You're a black belt in a number of different martial arts, can fly or drive almost any vehicle to name, and on top of that have solved some of crime's toughest cases. Looks like you'd be material for either the CIA or MI-5."  
  
Ivy laughed lightly, "Yeah, I've heard that from Corso too many times. I don't think I'd like being a spook too much. They're a...."  
  
"Loveless bunch of wankers." Hal replied.  
  
"Exactly, but not my first choice of words. I was trying to be diplomatic." Ivy said as their main entrée came to their table.  
  
"The best Peking duck I've had in a while. It even nearly compares to the stuff I'd had when I was in Hong Kong three years ago." Hal replied.  
  
"So you were a sharpshooter with the British Marines?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Yes I was." Hal replied, "I got paid to shoot people for a living."  
  
A waiter that had overheard the last sentence looked nervously at the pair and asked, "Excuse me sir, can I get you anything."  
  
"No thank you my friend." Hal replied, with a grin. The boy looked scared of Hal as he muttered an apology and walked away.  
  
"What was he so scared of?" Hal asked.  
  
"You're the one who said, 'I got paid to shoot people for a living,' Figure it out." Ivy replied.  
  
"Oh Christ, I don't go about putting holes in random people." Hal replied, "I put holes in terrorists and other nasty characters that deserve it."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Somewhere on Fisherman's Wharf.  
  
The world view through the scope of a sniper rifle was a narrow view at best. Not that it mattered to the man hiding high atop a building overlooking San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. His field glasses were roaming the busy square, looking for a single target.  
  
He could have easily killed any number of people down below him without breaking a sweat. His marksmanship was just that damn good. He held the silenced SVD Dragunov sniper rifle steady. The laptop computer at his side was plugged in and he sent a single anonymous e-mail out to every police agency in the area. As the message confirmed send he drew a bead on a single man in a business suit carrying a briefcase walking down the street. He centered the Dragunov's crosshairs on his head, drinking in the intoxicating power over life and death he held but careful not to let it overwhelm him, lest he let his guard down.  
  
He squeezed the trigger slowly, breathing out evenly and rhythmically as he lay on his belly, hidden well back in the shadows of the room of the abandoned building. He didn't shoot from next to the window, for only an amateur would do such a thing. Many a novice sniper had fallen for such simple mistakes. But not him, not this man so close to godly status as he.  
  
He felt the rifle buck and recoil with a silent thump thanks to the suppressor at the front of the SVD's barrel. He saw the business man slump forward as blood spurted from his head and he fell to the pavement. The sniper calmly broke the weapon down into components, placed them into the padded briefcase he carried and put the laptop inside as well. Walking off from the crime scene, he tarried to make sure he left no evidence and placed the errant bullet casing into his pocket, walking out amongst the crowd below. He saw a red corvette pull up and saw an auburn haired woman and a black haired man step out. The latter he knew very well, indeed he had once been the dark haired one's former student. He walked off into the streets of San Francisco undetected.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Mother Earth's Chinese Restaurant  
  
Ivy's cell phone rang as she opened her fortune cookie, "Ow! Damn! Hello."  
  
"Ivy," said a voice on the other end of the line, "It's Zack. There's been a murder committed on Fisherman's Wharf. Chief wants you and Hal on it."  
  
"I'll be right there. Damn." Ivy replied, "Heck of a first day, isn't it?"  
  
"I'd think so." Hal replied, laconically as they climbed into Ivy's corvette and drove off towards Fisherman's Wharf.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The body of a corporate lawyer named Christopher Osborne, 29, lay sprawled and bleeding on the pavement. Hal put on a pair of latex gloves after Ivy elbowed him, reminding him of that part of the procedure. He grinned sheepishly as if to say, "I knew that."  
  
Ivy rolled her eyes in response as they examined the corpse. "Bullet through the head, caliber unknown." Hal said, "I'd say judging by the size of the hole it was made by a thirty-caliber rifle of some sort."  
  
"Very astute, but how did no one hear the shot? The witnesses said that he just fell over dead one moment after just walking along." Ivy replied.  
  
"Silencer or sound suppressor, I'm guessing he used a telescopic rifle for greater accuracy, because this shot to the head is a very difficult one to attempt past 100 meters with open sights." Hal replied.  
  
"Motive, since our victim's a lawyer, I'd definitely say there's no shortage of people that hate him. Now why would someone want to kill him that's another story." Ivy replied.  
  
Ivy's cell phone rang and Zack was on the line, "Ivy, I think this information might be important. Every police agency within the county limits has gotten an e-mail from a fellow calling himself GrimReaper94 with the message saying, 'The chase begins. Catch me if you can.'"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
AN: Will try to update as much as possible, this was from C.J. Sandiego's suggestion that I stick to the story's timeline a little more. And if a certain immature brat wants to flame on the ages of Zack and Ivy, she can damn well stow it. 


	2. Case 1: Sniper

Case 1: Sniper  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. I'm aware that Ninja Girl is a nickname Cdr. Rabb has for Lt.Col. Mackenzie on JAG, I figured it fit Ivy as well.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
6 May 2000: "The bullet was a 7.62 round. A common sniper round, that's the bad news." Josha said as he came out of the Crimelab.  
  
"What's the good news?" Hal replied.  
  
"Easy, the bullet type, according to our ballistics expert is a fairly well manufactured match grade 7.62 bullet. Those are fairly pricey and store owners might keep records." Josha said, "And even if he ordered them online...."  
  
"That's assuming our killer's a he." Ivy interjected.  
  
"Whoa, Ninja Girl, a bit presumptuous. I'm operating on the theory that our sniper's had some military expertise." Hal brought in, he'd come up with a nickname for Ivy not more than ten minutes ago.  
  
"Well, Limey," Ivy said, coming up with a nickname that referred to 19th Century British sailors, "Some countries such as Israel do employ female snipers."  
  
"True, but we've not had any sort of proof that our sniper's a female. Have you sniffed 'her' perfume at the site." Hal joked.  
  
Ivy shot him a half hurt half-indignant look, "Watch it Limey or we'll have a full contact session in the gym."  
  
Hal's eyebrows shot up, "A tad forward aren't we Ninja Girl."  
  
"Watch it Limey." Ivy said.  
  
"Uh, Hal is it? I'd be careful..." Zack whispered.  
  
"Look, Ivy, I'm sorry about that. I'll try to avoid seeing innuendo and so forth in anything else I hear from now on." Hal replied.  
  
"You're still gonna die." Ivy replied, this time half-joking, "Meet me in the gym at eight o'clock, bring pads and ice."  
  
"A lot of ice." Zack replied, "Hey, Hal, you were a sniper, weren't you?"  
  
"Yes I was." Hal replied, "Why?"  
  
"Can't you kinda figure this guy out?" Zack asked.  
  
"I could, mate, I could but I'd need several days to study his habits, camouflage patterns, and modus operendi." Hal replied, "So far, this victim shows he's arrogant, because he shot him at midday."  
  
"Cruel." Ivy added, "He just shot him for no apparent reason."  
  
"Wait, earlier you said that..." Hal replied.  
  
"I'm still on that track, somewhat, but the more I think about it, I think your idea about random victims you mentioned on the drive back here has some merit." Ivy replied.  
  
"He's also methodical." Zack said, "He obviously planned this ahead of time. See how he was able to slip away unnoticed."  
  
"That's right. He had multiple possible hideouts that he could have fired from." Hal replied, "He's obviously ex-military or some sort of mercenary because of the skill he showed."  
  
"He could be an Olympic marksman of some kind." Ivy said, "Not to discredit you military types."  
  
"He could be, but I'm staying with the military theory because being a skilled marksman is only one part of sniping. You have to have a sort of 'primitive feel' for the countryside that a hunter must have either by birthright or by military training." Hal replied.  
  
"Or he could be some wacko survivalist." Zack added, as the trio sat down in the cafeteria for dinner. Zack had a salad, Ivy had a vegetable burger where Hal had a cheeseburger and French fries as they sat down to eat.  
  
"Let's not discount that." Ivy said.  
  
"Right, but most survivalists tend to be reclusive, somewhat out of touch with reality, and tend to indulge in spree killings when they explode." Hal replied, "Our sniper was methodical, as if he knew when and where to strike."  
  
"Can you two talk about anything else but work." Tatiana complained as she joined the trio.  
  
"Hal, this Tatiana." Zack held his fiancé's hand and said, "You know Ivy hon, she's like that. And we know that those Brits are all business."  
  
"Oh can it you tosser." Hal replied.  
  
"Speak English please?" Tatiana asked.  
  
They all started chuckling over the last comment, "I am speaking English. British English that is." Hal replied  
  
"Well," Zack said, "I say old chap, can't you talk like the bloody colonial's whilst you're in their midst."  
  
"Why sure, mate." Hal replied, with a grin at Zack's fake accent, "I hope you don't get any undercover job's in Britain, because the moment you open your mouth I can tell you're an imposter."  
  
"If the missus lets him." Ivy said, sipping her soda, "You know how spouses are. I mean, future spouses."  
  
"Already got the apron, ball and chain ready Tatiana." Hal replied.  
  
"Yes I do." Tatiana said, "Well I've got some junior detectives to teach in five minutes, see you later honey. Nice meeting you Hal."  
  
Tatiana and Zack kissed quickly and the trio sat at the table. "Oh my God." Maria, the elderly Mexican lady, an elegant mestiza in her late forties, the unofficial ACME moral officer said, "There's been another shooting."  
  
"The death of nineteen year old Christian Powers was a tragic one indeed. The University of California, Berkeley, student was in San Francisco volunteering at a soup kitchen when he walked outside to smoke a cigarette. Friends and witnesses recall that he just stood still for a moment before toppling over dead. No shot was heard, but a single bullet wound through Powers' left temple and an exit injury at his lower jaw more than suggest that a sniper responsible for a similar attack was involved." The TV newscaster for ZNN said. At this, Hal abruptly left the room, leaving a third of a burger and some fries and a half-finished coke.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Earlier: He had been hiding in the abandoned apartment across the street from the homeless shelter for nearly five hours after he had shot his first victim. The SVD was balanced between two cinder blocks and he lay face down on a comfortable old mattress and through a hole in the wall.  
  
He found a likely target just then. Most of the potential candidates that he had for victims either stayed out for too short a time or weren't high profile enough to get the results he desired. He found target practice on homeless people in the city at night wasn't nearly as headline making as shooting a businessman at midday.  
  
Finally he saw him. An idealistic kid, wearing a collared beige shirt and jeans, with a cigarette in his hands. Probably came from an upper middle class family, doing his bit to 'help out the bloody poor' and other such rubbish. Perfect, the boy leaned against a post, took a drag off his cigarette as his blonde girlfriend walked out to him. They argued a bit about something petty or unimportant.  
  
"Hmm, I want the girl out of my sight picture, I want her to see her boyfriend's brains splattered across the pavement." The sniper grumbled. The girl seemed to comply with the request and he squeezed the trigger slowly, though there were ten rounds in the magazine, he found maximum terror was achieved by one and only one round fired per human skull. Again the rifle bucked with nay a sound save a thump and a casing hitting the concrete ground.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hal? Where are you?" Ivy asked as she walked into the now busy crime scene. Thanks to Tatiana who had spotted Hal storming out of the building towards his 1997 Land Rover Discovery.  
  
"Over here." Hal said, he was interviewing a slim blonde woman. Her clear blue eyes were splotched red with tears, "Janice, where was he standing? Please, this important."  
  
"H-he w-w-was standing like this." Janice said, standing, leaning against the post.  
  
"Thanks," Hal said, as he tapped his left temple with his index finger of his left hand and then dropped to one knee, making a v shaped symbol with ring and index finger of his right hand, "That's where I'd be."  
  
Hal indicated a cluster of five small, derelict flats that were ready for demolition, "About three hundred meters away, no problem for an experienced marksman. Plenty of hides, and evidence will be destroyed tomorrow when the wrecking ball goes through."  
  
"Pretty slick, but how are WE planning on catching him." Ivy said, "You've got a lot of explaining to do."  
  
"Yes, about my behavior earlier." Hal said as they walked next to his Land Rover, "I can just see the media splattering the name sniper with more garbage. My old profession as a Royal Marine reduced to that of a common murderer by this scum."  
  
"Hal, talk to me. I'm your partner, and hopefully a friend." Ivy said.  
  
"It was in Northern Ireland, in 1988 where I learned a sniper's power, absolute power, over life and death." Hal replied, "This man is sick, obviously."  
  
"I don't disagree." Ivy said, "But you've got to work with me and quit going off on your own like that."  
  
"Right." Hal replied, "I'll try to do better on that. I just had to follow up on a hunch I just had. He seems to have a chronic hatred for people above him on the status quo."  
  
"His first victim was a corporate lawyer." Ivy said.  
  
"And this one was some sort of graduate student whose studies were done in business administration. His parents are one of San Francisco's more affluent middle class families." Hal added, "This bloke's got something against the 'haves' of society."  
  
"You're not a Marxist, are you Hal?" Ivy asked, "That sounds slightly like something Lenin would say."  
  
"It does, but I'm guessing he resents those of the upper classes of society for something that he lost." Hal replied, "Or there's a personal vendetta. I only hope we can solve this case before the body count gets higher."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal threw a couple more jabs and then slipped sideways and hooked the leather punching bag with a gloved fist. He circled about and gave the bag another jab, cross, hook, jab combo. He was wearing one of his standard issue brown t-shirts with black jogging pants and sneakers.  
  
"Frustrating, isn't it?" came a female voice behind him.  
  
Hal turned around to find Ivy standing behind him wearing blue shorts and a small yellow t-shirt, "Allow me."  
  
Ivy held the bag while Hal punched away at it with several more combos, adding a particularly vicious underhanded hook and cross combo to boot. "What happened in Northern Ireland?"  
  
"A gunman from the IRA was responsible for the deaths of half a dozen British soldiers and policemen. For six days our sniper units tracked him through the South Armagh cuds. Finally I sighted a man carrying a telescopic rifle setting it up in a hedgerow. My spotter called the battalion HQ and we were authorized to fire. I fired only one bullet and I knew exactly where it landed. For that whole time I stalked him, I wasn't merely the hand of God, I was God. I had absolute control when and where he would die and I exercised that power that day." Hal replied with a stone cold expression, conveying nothing, as he walked out of the room, "I know something of what our man must think and feel."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal was getting changed in the locker room when his cell phone rang. A garbled voice with a German/Dutch accent said, "That was number two. I have exacted my vengeance for the day. Can you predict when I'll strike? I lurk nearby, teacher, but you won't know it. I changed my appearance since we last saw each other..."  
  
The voice hung up before any trace could be garnered. Hal felt nothing more than an acid dread welling up inside his veins as he walked into his Land Rover and drove back to his apartment.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	3. Case 1: Sniper, Part 2

Case 1: Sniper, Part 2  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. Thank you NoLeafClover and C.J. Sandiego, if you could encourage other readers towards this fic, that'd be great. I have no racist leanings at all, just so you know, my sniper villain's the racist.  
  
NoLeafClover- I'm a student at a military school, I hope to one day join the US Marines and serve an exchange tour with the British Royal Marines, that's why I know so much about the military.  
  
C.J. Sandiego - Don't worry, the sparring match is coming up. And this story is gonna have more of them, because Hal and Ivy will be working together for four years.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
7 May 2000: Hal had just finished his morning run and shower before he was set to stop for a breakfast burrito and morning coffee cup. He'd acquired a taste for the stuff when on assignment in America two years before. He threw on a fresh collared shirt with a black Phil Collins concert t-shirt underneath and another pair of jeans before he stepped out the door, locked it and took to his car.  
  
He had managed to be late for roll call. "Wanker." Hal groaned.  
  
"Ivy?" asked Chief Inspector Grant Wells, a veteran ACME detective with nearly forty years experience, "Where's your partner?"  
  
"He's right there Chief," Ivy said, giving him a mock glare as he stepped out of the elevator.  
  
"Did they teach you promptness in the Royal Marines?" Wells replied, he was a stickler for detail and timeliness.  
  
"Yes they did. Sorry, traffic got backed up around Golden Gate Park." Hal replied.  
  
"Don't let it happen again." Wells replied, with a severe expression.  
  
Ivy walked into her office, across the hall from the one that was labeled Harold Olden in the senior detective's wing. Hal followed her in as she said, "Way to be on time Limey."  
  
The enigmatic half smile she gave him was a green light that it was safe to joke around, "I try Ninja Girl, I try." Hal replied, grinning as he held his coffee cup in his hand.  
  
"If you want a REAL strong cup of coffee, follow me." Ivy said, leading him down the hall.  
  
"This is the bullpen," Ivy said, showing a small kitchenette where two pots of coffee was brewing in the corner. A young man wearing a Gaucho getup was sitting with his feet propped up on a table, "You can come in here for a snack from the fridge, nuke something in the microwave, or get a cup of coffee."  
  
"Don't drink from the pot on the left unless you want to go loco mi amigo." The gaucho said.  
  
"Really mate." Hal said, "Why is that?"  
  
"That's my coffee pot Armando, so you'd best be careful." Ivy replied.  
  
"She'll brew that stuff so strong that steel would melt as well as your internal organs." Armando warned.  
  
"Couldn't be worse than Digger's excuse for tea." Hal replied, "Sorry, Digger was a mate of mine back when I was a boy soldier with the Royal Marines. We split up when I ran Selection for the SAS and Digger deployed to the Gulf War with my original battalion. I've known him my entire time in the service, from my sixteenth birthday to now, twelve years."  
  
"So what was so bad about his tea?" Armando asked.  
  
"I was just getting there." Hal replied, "When he finished with the Gulf, he ran Selection, got into the SAS, into my G Squadron and wound up in Mountain Troop as a mountaineering specialist, and when his turn to brew the tea in the common room came up, we all brewed our own. It was way too strong, it could keep a bloke awake for a month and wake a corpse to boot we always said."  
  
"Yep, Ivy's will do that too." Armando replied. Ivy shot him a glare, a 'friendly joking' glare, but a glare nonetheless.  
  
"Right. I'll have some of that." Hal replied and Ivy poured him a cup. Hal took a sip and immediately ran for the sugar jar and put five teaspoons into it, "Wanker! I ought to lock you up! This stuff should have a warning label, never drink black!!!"  
  
Ivy casually sipped a cup of black coffee, "I have no problems with it." Ivy replied.  
  
"Your stomach's dying, I just know you're gonna get a heart attack by your next birthday." Hal replied.  
  
"You're not funny you stinker." Ivy said, punching him lightly in the arm, "See you at four o'clock in the gym."  
  
Ivy sauntered out of the bullpen. "What's at four o'clock?" Armando said.  
  
"Ivy and I are sparring together." Hal replied.  
  
"I hope you have insurance." Armando grumbled.  
  
"I'll be fine. I'm sure I can handle her." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy poked her head in, "You'll eat those words this afternoon, I promise you that my English friend."  
  
"For dinner or desert?" Hal asked.  
  
"Let's see how far SAS hand to hand is gonna get you." Ivy said grinning.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The magnification of the SVD's standard PSO-1 telescopic sight was not sufficient for the sniper's purposes. So that's why he bolted the 9x telescopic sight, specially imported from Switzerland, to the top of the receiver. The rifle was broken down and carried in a briefcase with his laptop computer. He had plugged it into a computer terminal at the public library and sent yet another taunting e-mail out to a certain SAS operative working for ACME. He was going to go hunting today as he studied a range card, a small sketch of the area he planned to hide in and shoot from. He would fire into Golden Gate Park next, hitting close to home for his former mentor.  
  
He didn't really want to kill or torment his old mentor in particular, he just happened to be there. His master plan would be put into effect soon and his intended target, a traitor to all the loyal men of his unit that shed their blood for him would die on his planned visit to San Francisco next week. He would see that arrogant politician who had come to power on the blood of the men of his unit, all loyal South Africans the lot of them, all martyred for the inferior races that populated the nation he resided. A cause that his traitorous quarry thought more important than the lives of not only his unit members, but his family as well. He would reap his vengeance after six years of waiting.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Christopher Osborne Powers, South Africa's Minister of Defense, will be visiting San Francisco next week. The forty-nine year old Cape Town native changed from one of the most ardent supporters of apartheid to one of its most ardent opponents after witnessing the Johannesburg Race Riots of 1994." The ZNN announcer said into the bullpen.  
  
"Zack, remember we have flower arrangements to look at this afternoon." Tatiana said as she took a seat beside her fiancé.  
  
"I know honey." Zack said, the date was set in September, on the 11th of that month. Tatiana had picked it because it was her birthday and Zack agreed to it.  
  
"I also have us scheduled to attend pre-nuptial classes with the priest that evening after dinner." Tatiana said.  
  
"Boy Zack, she's running your life, isn't she mate." Hal replied.  
  
"She's worth it Hal, she's well worth it." Zack replied, "Armando, I guess you're planning the bachelor party with Josha."  
  
"Bloody hell mate, I'll jump in on that too." Hal replied.  
  
"And I'll stand by to bail you idiots out of jail." Ivy replied jokingly.  
  
"Ivy, Hal," said Chief Inspector Wells, "I'm assigning you two to the security detail for Mr. Powers."  
  
"Chief, we've still got the sniper case to wrap up." Ivy protested.  
  
"I'm assigning Armando and Maria to cover you on that. You two have exactly one week to start turning over your evidence and findings so far." Chief Wells replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The target was sitting at a concrete table with a lady friend. He was having fun, smiling and laughing with a big goofy grin on his face. He was happy as a lark. The sniper watched him through his telescopic sights remembered a time when he had been happy like that. But that traitor had robbed him of it, and this was just one more way to strike back at the traitor.  
  
The city's people were very much in dread of his crosshairs, for when he fired he never, ever missed. When he dropped the hammer someone would be dead, and rightly so. He had lost everything he loved and valued because someone thought that those damnable blacks were more important than the lives of true South African patriots. Because he chose to negotiate with the leader of the Johannesburg riots instead of killing the rioters leader outright the sniper's family had died. He had his crosshairs on the negro bastard who knew not his place in society but he was ordered not to fire and because of that, the rioters destroyed his home. Now he would exact his vengeance upon the man responsible for this screw up that those slick media men turned into his greatest triumph.  
  
He knew that this victim was merely fodder, practice for the ultimate killing he would do. He felt that intoxicatingly godlike power he wielded and this next target would force the police to stretch their forces thin. For this was the son of Commissioner Powers, Christopher. The name was similar enough to his intended victim to make him desire making another kill to stoke the fire and keep the sword which he would use to cull his hated target from this earth sharp.  
  
"Stay there, stay there. Perfect." The sniper said to himself as he hid in the crown of a bushy elm tree.  
  
He targeted the twenty-two year old college kid's forehead and breathing slowly squeezed the trigger. The thump sounded again, the death knell for his intended target, the best sound on the earth for the sniper. He watched as a terrified girlfriend saw her beau lying in a puddle of his own blood. They were killers, he was the merely their victim striking back at the world and one man in particular in vengeance.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Ready. Go!"  
  
At this, Ivy and Hal circled each other warily, both had pads to prevent injury, and both were agreeing to not use any lethal moves they might have learned. Hal struck first, throwing a roundhouse kick to Ivy's side. She managed to throw one kick that blocked the first. A flurry of hand movements followed as they tried to strike and counter each other simultaneously.  
  
"Not bad for Brit." Ivy said.  
  
"I'm holding back Ninja Girl." Hal replied, with a grin.  
  
"Show me what you've got marine." Ivy replied.  
  
"You asked. You got it." Hal replied as Ivy sprang towards him with an open handed strike. Hal caught her forearm and flung her over his shoulder, not knowing Ivy had planned this one.  
  
She landed sprightly on her feet and knowing Hal was slightly off balance she grabbed his arm on the way down and threw him to the ground on his back. Dazed slightly he stood back up faster than she expected and faced her. The two bowed to each other and assumed practice stances again.  
  
Hal, being slightly taller, threw several round house kicks to keep Ivy on the outside. Ivy managed to dodge most of them but caught one in the stomach that sent her back a few steps. "Not bad, but your missing one thing."  
  
Ivy half pivoted, getting inside easily and threw a short kick to the back of Hal's left knee and sent him to the ground. Within another flurry of hand movements Hal had managed to get Ivy on her back and pinned her by the stomach with his right knee, his right hand gripping her other hand. Ivy tapped the ground with her right hand, signaling that the point had gone to Hal. Both were now two for two in the score, even with each other with four minutes remaining.  
  
"Ivy, Hal! Sorry to interrupt this fight, but there's been another murder and Commissioner Powers is livid." Wells said into the gym.  
  
"We'll be right there Chief." Hal replied, "Well sorry to break this one up Ninja Girl, but we'll go finish it later."  
  
'I hope a lot later, my shoulder's aching like hell after that last throw.' Hal thought.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	4. Case 1: Sniper, Part 3

Case 1: Sniper, Part 3  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
C.J. Sandiego - Thanks for the reviews, appreciate it. But the reason why I put Tatiana's birthday on Sept. 11th was to make room for a few Zack/Tatiana tender moments.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
7 May 2000: Hal sat in his apartment, walking across the hardwood floor, looking at mementos from years of traveling the world from his days as a boy soldier with the Royal Marines to his more recent ones as an SAS operative. His mind raced with questions, the e-mails, the taunting one's he'd get at strange hours of the day from the sniper.  
  
The phone rang just then, "Hal? It's Ivy, I've got a couple interesting bits of evidence from the Crimelab. They tried to call you but you weren't in. Do you want to take a look at it before we turn it over to Armando and Maria?"  
  
"Yeah, your place or mine?" Hal asked.  
  
"I'm already on my way over," Ivy said, "I haven't had dinner yet, so could you do me a favor and get some food?"  
  
"Anything in particular?" Hal asked.  
  
"Just put an order in to Mother Earth's Chinese again, I'm in the mood for some take out." Ivy replied, "See you later."  
  
"Right. I'll get that order ready. What do you want?" Hal replied.  
  
"One order of General Tso's chicken, Lo Mein noodles, and a fortune cookie, Wonton soup sounds good too." Ivy replied.  
  
"Right. Good bye, I'll see you in half an hour." Hal replied.  
  
Hal put in a call to Mother Earth's Chinese for some takeout just then and ordered Ivy's food and some for himself, realizing that he hadn't really eaten anything since that six inch sub at Subway's at noon.  
  
The doorbell rang and Hal peered through the peephole and opened the door. Ivy walked in, wearing a red cotton button down blouse and a pair of black pants. She hung her brown jacket on a hook that was just inside the door. Hal closed the door and locked it. Ivy had a file under her arm and her keys in her hand.  
  
"What did you find?" Hal asked.  
  
"The bullets used to kill our three victims were all fired from the same gun. The FBI lab in Quantico just faxed us some bullet twist blueprints and found that they come from an unusual type of sniper rifle, an SVD Dragunov." Ivy said.  
  
"That's a fairly common rifle available on the black market, and I'm now figuring our sniper for savvy. There must be something associated with this weapon for him." Hal replied.  
  
"Think he's a Russian of some sort?" Ivy asked.  
  
"I highly doubt that." Hal replied, "I've been getting weird e-mails over the past couple of days from our boy. He must have some sort of gunsmith training, maybe he was an armorer in the military."  
  
"He could be one of those militia guys." Ivy interjected, "They're usually gun freaks who can get this sort of stuff."  
  
"True, I'm not disputing that, but there's something familiar about this man. His operating patterns and mode of operation. All three victims had in common some variation of the name Chris, Powers, or Osborne somewhere." Hal replied, "The last e-mail he sent was this: The Traitor Will Perish. Vae Victus."  
  
"Vae Victus?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Suffering to the conquered." Hal replied, "It's Latin."  
  
Ivy asked, "Could I use your bathroom?"  
  
"Sure, It's down the hall." Hal replied.  
  
As Ivy walked through the apartment she could see all sorts of mementos from Hal's operations around the world. She saw a half-burned Columbian flag in a frame across the hall from the bathroom. As she finished her business, washed up and headed back to the table, she noticed another snapshot. There was a picture of Hal and three other British soldiers, judging from their uniforms which consisted of their DPM trousers and brown t-shirts and jungle boots wearing floppy bush hats and sunglasses milling amidst soldiers from another country. The caption read South Africa, 1993. It hit Ivy like a streetcar just then.  
  
"Interesting souvenirs you've got." Ivy replied, "Where'd you get that flag?"  
  
"From a Marxist rebel camp we raided back in 1992." Hal replied.  
  
"Wait a minute, the name of that visiting diplomat next week, Christopher Powers. He's from South Africa.....That picture you've got just outside your bathroom next to that flag. It hit me just then, because I remember that you mentioned that the three victims had some variation of...."  
  
"I know what I said, Ivy." Hal replied, as he got up to fetch another photo album, "I'm thinking that he might have been a former pupil of mine from the South African deployment."  
  
"What are you doing?" Ivy asked.  
  
"I'm looking for a picture of the boys. That's what we called the fifty lads that they put the four of us in charge of teaching the art of sniping to." Hal replied, as he returned with an old photo album.  
  
He turned it to another page and showed the snapshot of a four-row deep group photo. The men kneeling in the front had L42A1 sniper rifles, an old British design, and the men standing in the back all wore floppy bush hats or red berets and hardened expressions. Not a single one of them was black, Ivy noticed. "Who are the boys?"  
  
"They're a bunch of lads from the South African Special Forces Brigade, you can tell by the red berets." Hal replied, "Hard core bunch of blokes I swear."  
  
The doorbell rang again, "Must be our food." Ivy said.  
  
"I'll get it." Hal replied, "Who is it?"  
  
"Detective Lestrade, SFPD. Is Mr. Olden in?"  
  
"Yes, this is he mate." Hal replied and opened the door to find a narrow framed fellow in his late thirties wearing a shirt and tie with gray slacks and a gray trench coat.  
  
"The SFPD's taking the case, we want ACME off of it. You're to turn over your evidence to us first thing in the morning. If that's a problem I can have you and your partner arrested for withholding evidence." Lestrade began.  
  
"You'll get it tomorrow mate. Now we've got a sniper to catch." Hal replied.  
  
"No need, we've got SWAT sharpshooters roaming the city at various locations waiting just to nail this guy. Good evening." Lestrade replied and walked off.  
  
Hal closed the door and said, "Of all the hard headed abrasive characters I've encountered in my time..."  
  
"Lestrade?" Ivy said, "He's got a reputation for being a royal pain in the ass. He's the most ambitious guy in the SFPD. He and Lauren Weimar would be perfect together."  
  
"Who?" Hal replied, "Oh, wait, dirty blonde woman, a little older than Zack. Goes through partners the way a machinegun does bullets, ethics of a shark."  
  
Ivy laughed lightly, "You just about described her."  
  
"I know, I heard Armando complaining about her after our match." Hal replied.  
  
The doorbell rang again and Hal answered it to find the small boned Chinese teenager that had taken their orders a couple days beforehand at Mother Earth's. "Thanks mate," Hal said, paying the boy, and giving him a tip.  
  
"Sir?" the boy said.  
  
"Yeah." Hal replied, "What is it?"  
  
"Applications for ACME are to be turned in at the end of the month, right?"  
  
From the kitchenette of the small studio apartment Ivy called out, "They are. God luck."  
  
"Thank you ma'am, sir." The boy replied.  
  
"Good luck to you too mate." Hal replied.  
  
As Hal walked back to the table with their orders Ivy said, "Did any of these guys especially dislike Mr. Powers?"  
  
"Not especially. Some of them weren't crazy about ending apartheid, but they accepted its end. I can't really think of any in particular that might want to kill him, but you just can't tell with some people." Hal replied.  
  
"I guess you can't. Do you have a list of names?" Ivy asked.  
  
"No, but I could call up a mate of mine who went to serve in the South African Army back in 1990." Hal replied, "I should be able to have some information on that tomorrow."  
  
They started to eat and mix in a little small talk, "Did you hear that Tatiana fainted after her shift?" Hal asked.  
  
"I did, is she alright?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Let's just say Zack's gonna have to move the wedding back if Tatiana still wants to look thin in her dress...." Hal grinned.  
  
"Why that sneaky little..." Ivy grinned, "I didn't think he had it in him."  
  
"People surprise you sometimes." Hal replied as Ivy walked up to the phone.  
  
"Do you mind?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Not at all." Hal replied and grinned as Ivy dialed and Zack answered, Ivy set the phone on speaker just then.  
  
"Zack, you've been naughty haven't you?" Ivy said.  
  
"Ivy, I don't know what you're talking about." Came Zack's voice, tinny over the small speaker.  
  
"Well ask Tatiana." Ivy replied, grinning, "Bye."  
  
"What, wait? Ivy?" Zack said as the phone hung up.  
  
"Oh that was cruel." Hal replied, and gestured with his eyes out of his kitchenette window.  
  
"What is it?" Ivy asked.  
  
"The rooftop across the street." Hal replied, "Don't indicate you've seen him."  
  
"Our boy?" Ivy replied.  
  
"If he remembered a damn thing I've taught him, no it isn't." Hal replied, "Unless he's got a partner, in which case throws this equation through a whole new twist."  
  
"What do you mean?" Ivy asked.  
  
"For every sniper you do see for security functions there are at least two you don't." Hal replied, "It's a bloody police sniper, that rifle isn't a Dragunov. It's a Winchester Stealth."  
  
"OK, so this is a sort of give the public a warm and fuzzy feeling." Ivy said, "Smart."  
  
"Smart." Hal replied, "I'd like to think so, but there simply aren't enough snipers in the police department and far too many possible victims out here to kill."  
  
"He hasn't struck at night yet." Ivy replied.  
  
"True, but he probably searches out his next hideout by night." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy yawned tiredly, "Well, I'd best get going. Thanks for having me over. See you in the morning?"  
  
"I'll see you then." Hal replied as he walked Ivy to her car unaware he was being watched.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
From somewhere across the street an unknown man watched as his former mentor escorted an auburn haired woman, his partner, to her vehicle. His rifle was still in the briefcase, and he didn't bother to try and assemble it. He just took some mental notes on these two ACME detectives that showed up at his past three victims' crime scenes.  
  
The fact that his former mentor was about and on his case was a nice little bonus perk. He was part of a four man SAS detachment that had taught his unit the basics of sniping and field craft. He would pay his mentor a visit later on, maybe discuss the murder of his true target after he was done his deed before he flew back to South Africa.  
  
These new sniper patrols weren't really that bad, they were more of an annoyance than anything else. Perhaps tomorrow was time to spit right into the SFPD's face and show just how little he respected their abilities.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Zack's Apartment, Somewhere around San Francisco Bay  
  
"Zack?" Tatiana said as she walked into his apartment, "There's something I want to talk about."  
  
"Sure honey, anything." Zack replied, "That's why I figured tonight for a nice, home cooked meal by candlelight...."  
  
Zack's eyebrows waggled suggestively. Tatiana blushed slightly and said, "Well, daddy, if you want...."  
  
"Wait a second, you called me daddy, that must mean..." Zack said.  
  
"Yes, honeybunch, that night in Honolulu we had on case had some unexpected results. I was wondering if we could move our big day back a month or two so that I can look semi-thin." Tatiana replied.  
  
"Your wish is my command." Zack replied and held his fiancée as he kissed her tenderly.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC (This is gonna be a long fic, because it spans a few years.) 


	5. Case 1: Sniper, Part 4

Case 1: Sniper, Part 4  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. Look for the site Mel's Sniper Page which has cool graphics of all kinds if you want to know what the various weapons described in this casefile look like.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
8 May 2000: "Corso, have you seen Hal anywhere?" Ivy said, "I haven't seen him since roll call."  
  
"He's down in the basement rifle range." Corso said, "Where the uniformed officers hold court. He's down there with Rand, one of my snipers."  
  
As Ivy walked down into the basement she saw the range where Crimenet sharpshooters practiced their lethal skills. Hal was lying prone and firing at a silhouette of a human head. A short, mostly bald fellow wearing civilian clothes knelt at Hal's side, "High and to the right."  
  
Hal zeroed the crosshairs again for 500 meters, and squeezed the trigger on the Accuracy International Super Magnum sniper rifle. Hal pulled back on the bolt, extracting the spent cartridge and heard Rand say, "High and to the right."  
  
Hal zeroed the scope again and squeezed the trigger. "Hit."  
  
"What's that for?" Ivy asked, as she walked in. She was wearing eye and hearing protection, like everyone else on the range did.  
  
"For the Powers security detail, I'm controlling the placement of the snipers for that one." Hal replied, "Which reminds me, I've got to talk to Captain Weathers of the SFPD SWAT team later this afternoon, so I'm gonna miss lunch. How about we go over what evidence we've got over dinner?"  
  
"Sure." Ivy replied, "My place?"  
  
"Right." Hal replied as he picked up the rifle and pocketed the five spent casings, "If this bloke tries anything he's getting a .338 Lapua round right between the eyes."  
  
Hal walked into the armory to sign the weapon back in and clean it as Corso said to Ivy, "He's taking this personally."  
  
"He is. Just between us, he thinks this sniper's a guy he trained in South Africa seven years ago." Ivy replied.  
  
"How can Hal be so sure?" Corso said. Ivy ran him through their findings of the night before and Corso said, "Brilliant, I'd not have expected that. But..."  
  
Corso's reply was cut short when the TV in the basement broadcast, "This just in. Two SFPD sharpshooters were killed this morning near the Golden Gate Park area. Police have strong suspicions that the sniper plaguing this area has struck again."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Earlier: The morning dew wasn't quite evaporating and the infamous San Francisco mist had not quite been burnt away by the morning sun when the sniper reached his lay up point. Five hundred meters separated him from his targets, two SFPD sharpshooters that were keeping watch on the road. He had to move carefully, for there were always other unseen snipers in these sorts of scenarios. But he had utter confidence in his ability to pick and choose his targets and engagements. Plus, his hide was very well camouflaged. The casual observer wouldn't have figured him hiding in the ventilation system of the building he was in.  
  
He zeroed his first victim's forehead and squeezed the trigger, causing a spray of bloody and hot coffee from the thermos he was holding to fly. Before the second, surprised man could do anything he fired a second round into his head.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The bullpen always had one or two detectives in it at any given time, but this time every chair in the small kitchenette was full. Hal walked inside and took the seat Ivy had saved for him. Armando, Maria, Zack, and Tatiana were all clustered at the table.  
  
"So your test came back positive?" Maria said.  
  
"Yes." Tatiana said, she was practically glowing. The fact that the life forming in her womb was conceived a month ago out of wedlock was inconsequential to her.  
  
"Life certainly has its surprises, have you told your parents?" Armando asked.  
  
"We told my parents." Zack said, "Tatiana wants to wait until her parents fly in next Tuesday. Mom and Dad know we're both grown people, but they were still sort of miffed that I'm a father before I'm married. Next thing you know they'll pester Ivy to settle down."  
  
"Like that would happen." Maria said, "I can see Ivy and Carmen running around as perpetual bachelorettes just like in Sex and the City."  
  
All five of the others at the table regarded Maria with shocked looks on their faces and it was a while before anyone spoke. "I can't see Ivy wearing a skirt or high heels at all and I grew up with her." Zack replied.  
  
"You did too Zack, my junior and senior proms for example." Ivy replied.  
  
"Well, if you're gonna be one of my bride's maids, then you're gonna have to wear a dress." Tatiana replied.  
  
Ivy shot her a mock glare as Zack said, "Great going Tatiana, that'll only be the fifth time I've ever seen Ivy attempt to wear a dress."  
  
"Zack, be nice, I'm sure your sister could easily look good in a dress. Better than you at any rate." Hal interjected, "As Shakespeare once said, 'A rose by any other name, still a rose.' So to with a lady."  
  
"This rose has thorns." Ivy said, secretly pleased with the compliment Hal had just given her.  
  
"True, I never said it lacked any thorns. Enough to make me feel an old rappelling injury I got when I was skiing in the Alps last year." Hal replied.  
  
"Ouch, that had to hurt." Zack said.  
  
"I warned you." Armando said.  
  
"You did. Anyway, Ninja Girl, would you like a rematch when this particular Englishman heals himself?" Hal asked.  
  
"I look forward to make you feel the old shoulder again." Ivy replied.  
  
"I got careless that time." Hal replied, "Won't happen again."  
  
"What were you doing in the Alps? Were you on vacation?" Tatiana asked.  
  
"No, I was there on business with taking the Alpine Guide's Course for eighteen months whilst serving on secondment with the German counter terrorist unit GSG-9." Hal replied, "We taught the Jerries how the Regiment takes a bite out of terrorism."  
  
"And just how does it do that?" Armando asked.  
  
"I'll show you." Hal replied, walking them into his office. He turned on his monitor, entered his password, and showed them his desktop background, which consisted of a four-man assault team wearing black from head to toe, armed with MP-5 sub machineguns. A fifth man stood behind them with a 12- gauge shotgun about to blast a door down.  
  
"That my friends is my unit about to do a simulated room clearance." Hal replied, "The bloke with the shotgun is me doing doorman position. The guy leading the team in is Digger, the man whose tea and coffee brews can wake the dead."  
  
The caption of the photograph read Manus Celer Dei, "What does that mean?" Ivy asked.  
  
"The swift hand of God. It's Latin." Zack replied.  
  
"How many languages can you speak again?" Hal asked, "I remember Ivy having said..."  
  
"I quit counting at twenty-eight." Zack replied.  
  
"Jesus Christ." Hal groaned, "You're a regular boy genus lad."  
  
"I never thought that soldiers could be so erudite." Maria said, "I mean no offence, but Shakespeare is the last thing I'd expect to hear from one, brilliant."  
  
"Thanks, I try." Hal replied, "A lot of that reading was from my own self education in all manner of literature and history. I especially love medieval history, particularly the Crusades."  
  
"You've got mail." The AOL chime sounded. Hal checked his e-mail and damn near froze.  
  
"Who's GrimReaper94?" Tatiana asked.  
  
"The sniper we've been chasing. He seems to have personal ties with Hal." Ivy replied.  
  
"Two Janissaries slain." Hal mused, aloud.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zack asked, "This guy's a few glazed doughnuts short of a dozen."  
  
"I know, mate, I know." Hal replied, "Jesus, it was those two policemen that he killed earlier this morning."  
  
"Hal? What's going on?" Ivy asked.  
  
"I just figured out who he is." Hal replied, "He was one of those guys in the picture I showed you last night. His name's Erich Spyde, South African Special Forces, a natural marksman."  
  
"Meaning?" Zack asked.  
  
"He could easily have made every one of those shots to every one of the victims he killed." Hal explained, "He was already an extremely good shot with a rifle, but when I got to training him back in 1993 he wasn't a true sniper."  
  
"Hal, you're not making any sense here." Ivy replied.  
  
"Easy." Hal replied, "Erich Spyde didn't know much more than the basics of being a sniper, camouflage, concealmeant, and counter-sniping."  
  
"That means that he had little more than the average soldiers' skill at camouflage, he didn't know how to pick a good hideout, and he didn't know jack shit about how to avoid and turn the tables on a counter-sniper." Hal replied.  
  
"What's a counter-sniper?" Zack asked.  
  
"A counter-sniper is a bloke who is a trained sniper that hunts an enemy sniper that is known to be operating in the area. The SFPD sharpshooters are carrying out a form of counter-sniper action and not very well as two of their guys got picked off by Erich Spyde." Hal replied.  
  
"You trained Spyde?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Yes, he was a member of the South African Special Forces back then, in the interests of re-opening some doors, the South African and British governments had members of the Regiment train members of the South African Special Forces." Hal replied, "Spyde was one of my more apt and brilliant students. He picked up everything I taught him on the first try and improved on many of my old tricks. He was one of the best students I'd had and he looked up to me as a mentor."  
  
The guilt on Hal's face was immeasurable as Ivy said, "Hal, you couldn't have known...."  
  
"Yes I could." Hal contended, "When his family died in the Johannesburg Race Riots a year later, he wrote me often and each time the letters got more and more desperate as he sank further and further from sanity."  
  
Hal picked up a piece of paper from his pocket, "This one was dated three years ago, 'Teacher, please know this is not your fault. I have settled all my affairs back home and swore over the graves of my father, mother, grandfather and fiancée that they would be avenged by the Master Plan. I am the Angel of Death with your teachings and findings of my own. The traitor shall be purged.' I should have figured he was referring to Powers."  
  
"So he's blaming the South African defense minister for the deaths of his family. And he wants to kill him. We should tell him to cancel his appearance before the African Studies Union here in San Francisco." Zack said.  
  
"Right, we should, but if I know old Mr. Powers, it's not going to stop him." Corso said, walking into the room.  
  
Corso lead them back into the bullpen as the ZNN interview with Christopher Osborn Powers continued.  
  
"So, Mr. Powers, does the San Francisco Sniper have any effect on your planned visit?" asked Stuart Dunston, the ZNN reporter.  
  
"No Mr. Dunston, I does not. I cannot and will not be swayed into my apology for apartheid by a common murderer." Powers replied.  
  
"According to our sources at both the SFPD and ACME Detective Agency you are his primary target." Dunston replied.  
  
"Even so, I cannot let this terrorist stop my visit, it will speak rather badly of my character to my people, both black and white, if I let fear of a bullet stop my travel plans."  
  
"Those bastards." Hal replied, "What do they do with all that evidence we gave them but turn it into a bloody press conference?"  
  
"Hal, they don't have the final clue we have. All we have to do is figure out how to stop Spyde before he gets Mr. Powers into his sights." Ivy said.  
  
"Right, meet me at the second floor terrace if you want to know how a sniper thinks." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ivy followed Hal's instructions to find him sitting at the beautifully landscaped terrace with its planters full of various types of perennial plants and flowers and its graceful old style park benches. He had the Super Magnum rifle across his knees.  
  
He handed her a pair of binoculars, "Pick a random person in the crowd below."  
  
Ivy followed her instructions and Hal put the rifle in her hands, "Now put the scope right on your person's forehead, tell me what you see."  
  
"Hal?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Just do it and let yourself be carried over. What you'll feel is how Spyde feels." Hal replied.  
  
"I see a uniformed police officer, male, in his late thirties. He's riding on horseback down the street and he's stopped to talk to a hot dog vendor." Ivy said.  
  
"He's got no idea we're up here. How do you feel?" Hal asked.  
  
"Like I'm closer than the vendor to him, like I'm in complete control." Ivy said.  
  
"Now squeeze the trigger." Hal replied.  
  
"WHAT?" Ivy asked, "Hal, are you out of your mind?"  
  
"No, it's not even loaded." Hal replied, opening the bolt and indeed revealing that there wasn't a Lapua round in the chamber.  
  
"What was that for?" Ivy asked.  
  
"To put us inside his head so we can discern his mindset. I may have been a sniper before, but I only killed when I was ordered to do so. Spyde has let go any sort of human decencies for his vengeance. The best way to get at an adversary is to get inside his head." Hal replied.  
  
"Trust me, that's one mind I don't want to know any more about." Ivy replied, shaken but trying not to show it.  
  
"That's why you'd make a lousy assassin, but a great detective." Hal replied.  
  
"Thanks, I think." Ivy replied.  
  
"About those new security arrangements for the Powers visit, do you still want me to come by your place after we've looked over the conference center downtown?" Hal asked.  
  
"Sure, something tells me its gonna be yet another working dinner." Ivy replied, "Zack and I used to have those all the time when we were partners."  
  
"I'll bring dinner. What are you in the mood for?" Hal replied.  
  
"Let's just order a pizza and some sodas." Ivy replied, "Come by at seven."  
  
"I'll be there." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Spyde was chagrined. The SFPD, for all their blundering had actually wandered into his intended hide for the day. He stalked away from the abandoned theater where he was planning yet another shooting and instead decided to observe ACME where his former mentor now worked.  
  
He watched as he and his partner, the auburn haired woman, talked about something on the roof. He saw his mentor cradling an Accuracy International Super Magnum rifle, a much more accurate and longer reaching rifle than the Dragunov that he currently carried, but it didn't have the concealment that his broken down rifle had. They seemed to be far better equipped than he'd anticipated. Maybe he'd best do some research and send ACME a personal message.  
  
He knew shooting down one of those ACME whiz kids would do wonders for his bad mood. But who to shoot? He knew his intended mentor too well and wanted him to see him kill the accursed Christopher Powers. His partner. Maybe, but he'd definitely have Harold Olden after him in a heartbeat and knowing the skill and tenacity of the man, he didn't want to chance this particular pursuit. Perhaps, the blonde haired sleuth that was walking outside the building, the brother of the redhead. He wasn't gonna shoot his intended victim today, but he'd shoot eventually to tell ACME he meant business, even if it meant it might just have a certain SAS operative after him.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC (Who's the intended target, find out next crime.) 


	6. Case 1: Sniper, Part 5

Case 1: Sniper, Part 5  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before  
  
C.J. Sandiego - Thanks for the encouragement. This is just one case Hal and Ivy will work on together, there's gonna be a lot more.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ivy's Apartment, Riverside, California  
  
8 May 2000: The knocking on the door pulled Ivy out of her reading of Lewis Carol's Through the Looking Glass almost immediately. She saw Hal standing on the other side of the door through the peephole carrying some files under his arm.  
  
Ivy opened the door and Hal walked in, "I've so far gotten everything I know and remember about Erich Spyde on paper."  
  
Hal hung his dark green cotton A-2 flight jacket with the brown leather collar on the wall, wearing his Navy blue long sleeve sweater and jeans from the day's work, indicating he hadn't had time to change.  
  
"Hal, how long did you stay after at the conference center?" Ivy asked.  
  
"About an hour after you left, don't worry I called Papa Gino's that pizza place you told me about. They said our order should be in approximately twenty minutes." Hal replied.  
  
"They take forever but they make the best pizza and breadsticks in town." Ivy said.  
  
"You seem to live off fast food a lot during the week." Hal mused.  
  
"Hal, that's right. Being one of the top detectives at ACME has its downs." Ivy said.  
  
"Well, how about next working dinner you come over to my place and I'll make you a nice home cooked meal, with some dessert, and then we could talk about whatever case we happen to be working on, or backlogged paperwork." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy smiled, unexpected treatment from a new partner, but maybe she shouldn't read too much into it. He was probably being another typical gentleman Brit. But still the thought of a nice home cooked meal sounded great.  
  
"I do have a home to go to on weekends." Ivy replied, "My parents are both great cooks. Anyway, what were you about to tell me about Spyde."  
  
"Right." Hal replied, "Let's get back to work."  
  
They sat down at Ivy's kitchen table and Hal spread out an assortment of pictures, a service record, and some letters that Spyde had written to him. "I should have realized he was at madness' gate shortly after the riots." Hal replied.  
  
"What was he like before all this happened?" Ivy asked.  
  
"He was a good natured, idealistic fellow, a little on the intense side but still an eager and intelligent pupil. He was a devoted son, family man, and fiancé, he was set to marry a lovely young woman when his term expired and go work for the South African Police when the riots hit. All the people he loved, died, because they were in the path of the rioters. If he had been allowed to shoot the lead protestor the riot would have been stopped, in his opinion." Hal replied.  
  
"Why didn't they let him shoot? I mean if it would stop the riot, wouldn't the police want that to happen." Ivy asked.  
  
"I'm not sure exactly, but the blames somehow lies with Christopher Powers, the current South African Minister of Defense who was then Colonel Powers, South African Army. He chose to negotiate with the lead protestor instead of killing him and causing more loss of life. If he had allowed Spyde to fire the rioters would really have gone berserk and more would have died. Spyde lost the people most important to him for that decision and all he wants is revenge." Hal replied.  
  
"Revenge?" Ivy said, "Then why shoot five people unconnected to the case...."  
  
"Ivy I never said Spyde was sane. He apparently has no concept of the value of human life anymore." Hal replied.  
  
"Evidently, we've pretty much seen that with his actions of late." Ivy replied, "What about the victims having similar names of his target."  
  
"I'm guessing that was his idea of a sick joke." Hal replied, "Josha turned up some more interesting bits of info at Crimelab."  
  
"What was it?" Ivy said.  
  
"There was just a purchase three nights ago of match grade 7.62x54mm rimmed ammunition. That's the sort of ammunition that an SVD Dragunov uses." Hal replied.  
  
"OK, I'll bite for this lead, but don't other rifles use that kind of ammunition?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Yes, but I'm willing to bet that there aren't that many Dragunov rifles in use in this area." Hal replied, "Besides the only other rifle I can think of that uses that type of ammo is the Mosin-Nagant 1871, the old Russian issue rifle of World War II."  
  
"What makes you think that Spyde bought the ammunition?" Ivy said.  
  
"For one our witness, the clerk at the gun shop, said that he and the customer talked at length about his baby. Another he said that 'Baby' was gonna make some things right in the world and put some people in their place." Hal replied, "The guy got concerned and called ACME because he knew we were on the case."  
  
"Alright, then do we have a face to put to the name?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Surveillance tapes at this gun shop revealed this. A clear shot of the man." Hal replied.  
  
A narrow faced, thinly bearded fellow with cold gray eyes, close cropped black hair and a grin that could only be from that of a crocodile about to enjoy a meal. "Erich Spyde, meet Ivy Darren." Hal said dourly, "He may have changed his appearance, but those eyes give him away. They were once eyes that burned with patriotism and love for his family and motherland. But now they blaze with hate and vengeance."  
  
"You can tell that from a security camera photo?" Ivy said.  
  
"No, I can tell because I worked with, trained with, and lived with this bloke for six months in South Africa." Hal replied.  
  
The door chime sounded and Ivy walked across the beige carpet floor of her decent studio apartment and opened it. The pizza delivery girl, a slim little girl in her mid-teens handed them their order and Ivy paid and tipped her. As she walked back in, Ivy could see the effect that this case was having on Hal. She could see what had to be guilt written across his features. There was no way that this was his fault, couldn't he see that.  
  
"Hal, do you have any brothers or sisters?" Ivy asked, trying to lighten the mood.  
  
"I've got none." Hal replied, "My mother, when she did remarry, was past her child bearing years."  
  
"That's rough, I mean losing your father at such an early age." Ivy replied.  
  
"I lived with it the past twenty-four years." Hal replied, "I just wonder how he'd feel that I decided to follow his path."  
  
"He's definitely proud, wherever he is Hal." Ivy replied.  
  
"I know. Somehow talking to you makes me feel better about this." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Zack's Apartment, Golden Gate Park  
  
"Tatiana, how long have you been pregnant." Zack asked.  
  
"Since our night in Honolulu. I've been pregnant for almost a month and I only found out yesterday." Tatiana replied.  
  
"Do you think that your parents...." Zack began until Tatiana put a finger to his lips.  
  
"I'll handle my parents when they come here. But they'll be just as pleased to know that I'm marrying you because I love you." Tatiana said, replacing her finger on Zack's lips with her lips.  
  
"My mom and dad are still miffed about this, but they'll get over it. Anyway I managed to convince Father Fulton to move the wedding next month or July. He says let the bride pick." Zack replied.  
  
"I managed to get in touch with the flower arrangement people, the wedding singer, and Donna, the coordinator, she says it's a tight fit but we'll be able to get the wedding on July at the earliest." Tatiana said, "I'm so exhausted."  
  
"Look honey, if it means that much to you, we can wait till our baby's born and have the ceremony afterward." Zack replied, as he pulled his fiancée closer, cuddling against her.  
  
Tatiana practically melted into his arms and said, "I'm fine with the earlier ceremony. Or even our original date. I'd just rather not walk down the aisle when I'm as big as the church if I can help it."  
  
"If that's the case, I'll see if I can't talk Ivy's new partner into letting us use his Land Rover to drive you to the rehearsals." Zack joked.  
  
"Just wait until I go into labor Zack, just wait." Tatiana replied, mock threateningly, "I'll make you wish that you were facing your sister in a sparring bout."  
  
Little did Zack know, as he walked in front of his apartment window that two gray eyes were watching him through a telescopic sight.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"I can't believe this!" Hal laughed, his mood lightening considerably, "You've chased the world's most famous thief responsible for the Tower of London heist, the satellite theft, and God knows what else since 1990. That's amazing."  
  
"She's been lying low of late for some reason. She's just given us occasional challenges ever since Zack and I split. She's been like a second mother to Zack and I almost at times. She cares about us like we're her own children sometimes." Ivy replied, "I guess its because she never really had anyone."  
  
Over the past hour or so, since they'd figured out their man and had done everything they could possibly do, they just sat over pizza and soda and talked about many things.  
  
"I really had no idea you'd accomplished this much by the time you turned twenty." Hal replied, "Hell when I turned twenty I was still mucking about in my battalion with the Royal Marines, training to run Selection."  
  
"What's Selection like?" Ivy asked.  
  
"It's basically six of the most intense weeks of your life to start out. Which mean I spent six weeks in Wales in the dead of winter running around in full fatigues with a rucksack that could weigh from forty-five to eighty pounds going up steep hills and negotiating thick woods. Then there's the jungle phase, where I spent a month in Malaya living in the rainforest learning the basics at the British Army Jungle Warfare School. Then three weeks of Escape and Evasion training which I practiced being on the run from enemy soldiers and surviving an interrogation." Hal replied, "Everybody gets captured on the prisoner run, so we get the experience of being POW and know that we don't ever want to be captured."  
  
"Sounds rough." Ivy said, "How many started out?"  
  
"We started with one hundred and seventy six men and only a dozen graduated to wear the beige beret that all SAS soldiers wear proudly." Hal replied.  
  
"Well, at the Farm for ACME we didn't have quite the physical intensity or attrition rate, but we did lose quite a few kids in my class." Ivy replied.  
  
Just then the phone rang and Ivy answered it. She just about turned pale when she heard the news.  
  
"Ivy? What's wrong?" Hal asked.  
  
"It's Tatiana. Zack's been shot!" Ivy said, trying to reign in emotion. There were tears starting flow down her cheek and Hal gathered her into his arms, feeling her tears soak through his sweater.  
  
He picked up the phone, "Tatiana, this is Hal? How's Zack."  
  
"Ivy, they've rushed him to the hospital and...." Hal began.  
  
Ivy grabbed her keys and Hal said, "You're not driving. In this state you could easily get hurt."  
  
"Hal, this Spyde fellow's gonna be hurt when I'm through with....." Ivy began.  
  
"The hell you aren't driving." Hal replied, "I'll get us there to the hospital."  
  
"Us?" Ivy asked.  
  
"You're my partner, and also someone I've started to see as a friend. I'll be damned if I see you getting scraped off a highway somewhere because you drove in a highly emotional state." Hal replied as he gathered up his coat and walked to the elevator with Ivy falling into step beside him.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
San Francisco Emergency Room  
  
"Ms. Darren, they've just wheeled Zack into surgery. Your parents have been contacted. Wait here please?" the surgeon said, "The bullet entered his chest, just inches from his heart and came out below his right shoulder. He's lucky that the round didn't go an inch to the left or he wouldn't be here with us now."  
  
Ivy saw Tatiana sitting in the waiting room, her face blotchy and red from crying. She regarded Hal with bloodshot eyes, "How can you do this?"  
  
"Do what?" Hal asked, feeling utter certainty the question to follow.  
  
"Shoot a man in cold blood?" Tatiana said, "Knowing full well he's a husband, father or anything! How can you see him through a telescope and squeeze the trigger."  
  
"Believe me, I know how that can be done. Those last sight pictures never leave you. I can still remember the faces of those I've shot." Hal replied, "Zack is fortunate to have survived an encounter with a sniper. Before you think me cold hearted I ask you this, could you do it?"  
  
"No, of course not!" Tatiana protested.  
  
"Then that's good. The difference between myself and Mr. Spyde is that I can feel the natural guilt after every kill. That I can recall the faces of those I've shot as not just people my superiors ordered me to fire upon but human beings. But in the same sense, I knew I was doing a job, eliminating men who would kill my fellow soldiers and marines. Spyde is killing for vengeance." Hal replied, "I don't know how I could do it either. You're closer than God to a man when you're behind the crosshairs, for you determine whether he lives or dies. Spyde was consumed by that power, where I was not."  
  
"Ms. Darren." Said the doctor, "The good news is that Zack is stable. We've moved him into Intensive Care. There's some chairs and couches around up there if you'd like to spend the night. The bad is he's in a coma. He suffered from massive blood loss and internal injury. It's a good thing that his fiancée had the sense to call 911 when she did or he wouldn't be alive."  
  
"Tatiana." Hal said, "Ivy, you're close to Zack. No one knows what comatose men truly hear, but if you talk to him you might get him to wake."  
  
Hal felt a resolve within himself. He was going to give Spyde a third eye for this, pure and simple. His former student was now going to be the target within his sights, his prey. Could the deer defeat the wolf?  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	7. Case 1: Sniper, Part 6

Case 1: Sniper, Part 6  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. BTW sixteen is the minimum age of enlistment in the British Armed Forces.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
(Intensive Care Unit)  
  
9 May 2000: Hal woke with a feeling on pins and needles in his right hand and that feeling one gets after waking up in an unfamiliar location. He realized he was sitting in the ICU on one of the couches. Ivy was fast asleep at his side, and hence the reason his hand lost circulation in it. She had been leaning her full weight against his right side.  
  
Taking great care not to disturb her he shifted her to a more comfortable position and put a pillow under her head. He took one of several folded blankets and draped it across her body. Ivy stirred and mumbled something but settled down to sleep. Tatiana had already got a blanket and pillow and an older couple whom Hal figured out had to be Zack and Ivy's parent was lying asleep as well. He walked out of the building to his SUV and started it up for the conference center. It was just half an hour before after one in the morning when he got there.  
  
Hal parked the SUV, turned off the lights and broke out a padded case. Inside it was the Accuracy International Super Magnum sniper rifle. There were already quite a few prepared hides, or sangars for the police sharpshooters covering this event. Hal had already worked out several possible firing angles for the podium where Spyde could fire from. All he had to do was wait. If Spyde's habits were anything like they had been when he worked with him in South Africa he would be scouting for hides right about now. And when he tried to fire, he would get a big surprise in the form of a .338 Lapua round right through his forehead. It was about ten minutes after he got a nice spot in a small maintenance shed on the roof of the building that he saw Spyde walking about, casually examining an area near the conference center that was undergoing remodeling. The work crews had no work the next day because of the event and thus it made a perfect, though fairly obvious spot. Spyde had gambled that security wouldn't be up to his tricks.  
  
"Quite original Erich." Hal said to himself, "Hide in the most obvious spot and figure that security won't think you're going to hide there. But you know I'm about, so this could be a ploy."  
  
Spyde had only two possible hides he could use, the construction yard and a two story historical house across the street and to the right of the conference center. The second hide had better concealment but not nearly as many lines of fire as the construction yard due to the presence of a couple trees and a light post. Hal knew Spyde only needed one and only one well placed round to achieve his objective. Coming out of this alive seemed not to be in the equation of Spyde's plans, for there was seemingly a plan to go out in a blaze of glory after executing his deed.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal took an index card and a pencil out of his pocket and using a small hand held laser telescope he pinpointed various ranges from his hide to the various landmarks to use as a quick reference for zeroing his scope. He knew he had one, and only one, shot to fire at Spyde and he wanted it to count.  
  
Spyde seemed to like to operate at ranges of five and six hundred meters, because that was where the SVD was at its most effective. The buildings around the conference center would make good hides, but police sharpshooters already had sangars on them and Spyde wasn't that willing to risk such an early compromise before taking the one shot he believed would set everything to right.  
  
The more he thought about it, the more he figured that Spyde would prefer the less obvious historical house as a hide. What better way to funnel him into a trap than by having the police snipers occupy that hide. That would pretty much force Spyde to use the construction yard hides.  
  
It was another two hours before Hal went back to his apartment and fell asleep in his clothes.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
10 May 2000: Roll call had just finished at ACME and the main building was again its usual bustle of activity. Ivy sat at her desk in her office, typing a proposed route for the Powers visit. VIP security wasn't usually a job she did, but since she and Hal had the most experience dealing with the most immediate threat to Minister Powers' safety they were put in charge of the security detail. She hadn't seen him since he dropped her off at the building.  
  
After finishing typing up the report Ivy walked into the bullpen looking to get a quick snack from the fridge. She saw Hal sitting at a table, his back to the corner, nursing a cup of coffee. "Where have you been?" Ivy asked.  
  
"I was up late last night." Hal replied.  
  
"I can tell." Ivy replied.  
  
"How's Zack?" Hal asked.  
  
"He's stable but still in a coma." Ivy said, Hal could see his partner was obviously distressed and he was at a loss for words, "Tatiana got the week off because of this."  
  
"This must be really hard on her." Hal replied.  
  
"I'm going to visit Zack at lunch time and see if Tatiana needs any help." Ivy replied.  
  
"Good idea, I'll drive you there." Hal replied.  
  
"You don't have to, you know." Ivy said, "I can ask Armando or Maria...."  
  
"Ivy, you're my partner, and hopefully a friend. Besides, I was planning to see if Zack was alright myself at noon." Hal replied.  
  
"Hal, that's so sweet of you." Ivy said, smiling despite herself.  
  
"That's one of the things the Colonel used to teach me." Hal began, with a wry grin, "One must take care of one's partner."  
  
Ivy said, "That's true, your lives may depend on each other. Who is the colonel by the way?"  
  
"My grandfather, he was one of the original commanders of 3 Commando, British Army in World War II. He may have been old and frail during the years I knew him." Hal replied, "But one look in his eyes revealed the fierce warrior of his youth."  
  
"He must be proud." Ivy said, "That you followed your father's footsteps."  
  
"He died shortly before I joined the Royal Marines on my sixteenth birthday, and before I volunteered for the sniper training course." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy put a reassuring arm around his shoulder, "It's tough to lose someone you love."  
  
"I know." Hal replied as they climbed into his Land Rover and he pointed it off in the direction of the hospital.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
As they walked into the hospital they were greeted by a tearful Tatiana. "What's wrong? Is Zack..." Ivy said, fearing the worst.  
  
"No, Ivy, he isn't. These are tears of joy. He came out of the coma not more than five minutes ago." Tatiana replied.  
  
Ivy practically ran up the stairs, with Hal running close behind with Tatiana standing in the lobby staring at the holes in the air they left when they ran off. Then she ran to the nearest bathroom with a speed that rivaled that of both Ivy and Hal. Morning sickness, as she discovered, was not just confined to the morning hours.  
  
"Ivy?" Zack said weakly. His chest was bandaged, around the area where the bullet had entered, and there were IV's sticking out of his arms, but he was still conscious.  
  
There were tears of joy in Ivy's eyes, "Oh Zack, you had me worried for a second."  
  
"Hey Ive, I couldn't die. For one who'd help my lovely fiancé Tatiana raise our kid? For two who'd give you a hard time?" Zack began.  
  
"You know Zack, you're lucky you're wearing bandages right now." Ivy snapped back, lightly punching him on the arm.  
  
"Owww..." Zack winced, "Hospital patient here, Ivy, hello?"  
  
Hal grinned, "Nice to see you've returned to the land of the living mate."  
  
"Did you catch him?" Zack replied.  
  
"Not yet." Hal replied, "But we will. Trust me on this one."  
  
"Where's Tatiana?" Zack asked, raspily.  
  
"I'm right here darling." Tatiana said, walking in from the elevator, "In a minute I'm gonna need a hospital bed."  
  
"Oh stop being such a drama queen Tatiana, morning sickness only lasts the first trimester." Ivy joked, "I should know, I was around when mom was carrying Zack."  
  
"I don't think I'm gonna make it that far....Where's the bathroom!?" Tatiana shouted, bolting out of the room with Hal running behind her to point it out.  
  
The sounds of a person throwing up could be heard in the next room. "Zack, I can see you're in the doghouse right now." Hal replied.  
  
"And you're set to be his room mate if you keep up the commentary." Ivy joked back, wiping the last couple of tears from her eyes.  
  
"Hal, Ivy, could either of you do me a favor and pick up my parents and grandmother from the airport tomorrow?" Tatiana asked.  
  
"I'll take care of it. My SUV's big enough to hold all their luggage and the passengers as well." Hal replied.  
  
"That's sweet of you Hal, but I should go, I mean Tatiana's grandmother's a little senile, she might not trust you because she's never met you. She knows me pretty well." Ivy replied.  
  
"I never said you couldn't go." Hal replied, "I'm just saying my SUV's better suited to the task. Besides, if I'm going to spend the next four years here working with you I may as well meet your future in-laws."  
  
"Just don't start having flashbacks of raiding a Marxist camp at dawn. OK?" Ivy joked.  
  
"I'll try not to." Hal replied as the nurse checked Zack over and got Tatiana some asprin.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC (Sorry this one's so late, I've had school catch up on me. I'll be able to update more over Christmas break.) 


	8. Case 1: Sniper, Part 7

Case 1: Sniper, Part 7  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. I took the liberty of inventing Tatiana's last name and her family.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hal," Ivy said, as they drove along in the Land Rover, "Thanks for doing this."  
  
"No problem." Hal replied, "How do you think Tatiana's parents are gonna react to the fact that Zack got their daughter pregnant before their planned marriage?"  
  
"I'm not sure, really. Her mother's the most likely to start going off on her about this." Ivy said.  
  
"I take it she's a bit of a traditionalist." Hal replied.  
  
"Yep." Ivy replied, "If she had her way, Tatiana would still be wearing ankle length skirts everywhere she went and not be allowed to leave the house."  
  
"Yikes." Hal replied, "That bad. I'm guessing she's a rural girl of some sort."  
  
"Exactly." Ivy replied, "From a tiny village in the Ukraine."  
  
"She's gonna have a hard time explaining her frequent trips to the toilet." Hal replied.  
  
"Be nice!" Ivy commented, "Besides she said she'd explain to them that she and Zack were engaged before she got pregnant."  
  
"Might I ask how that happened?" Hal replied.  
  
"According to Tatiana they had a case in Hawaii they solved in record time. Having some time together, a free five day vacation given to them by the grateful Hawaiian state government, they made love every night of those five days." Ivy said, "Then a while later, after feeling badly, Tatiana found out she was pregnant and asked me the best way to tell Zack."  
  
"It's gonna be interesting when her parents find out." Hal said, rolling his eyes as he took the turn towards the airport.  
  
"You have no idea." Ivy replied as they saw a trio of people waving at them. One of them was a big Russian bear of a man, with fiery red hair and Nordic features, the other was a blonde woman, petite in stature, dwarfed by her big husband. Hal could see where Tatiana got her looks from the appearance of her mother. An old woman covered from neck downward carrying a cane accompanied the group.  
  
"That's our party?" Hal said.  
  
Hal stopped the SUV and Ivy wondered what those strange looks Hal had been giving her were all about. She decided to just write it off as Hal just being himself.  
  
As soon as Tatiana's mother stepped into the Land Rover she asked, "Ivy, is that your new boyfriend?"  
  
Ivy almost laughed at the surprise on Hal's face, "No ma'am, I'm not. I'm her new partner."  
  
"You're British?" Mrs. Rossovsky said.  
  
"Yes I am." Hal replied.  
  
"Ivy, when are you gonna settle down and become a wife?" Mrs. Rossovsky began.  
  
"Ivy, the very idea of you as a housewife is quite laughable." Hal replied.  
  
"I'd probably go crazy, marine." Ivy replied.  
  
"You are in the marines?" Tatiana's father asked.  
  
"Royal Marines." Hal replied, he usually tried to avoid saying he was a member of the Regiment unless he had to.  
  
Hal dropped the family off at Tatiana's apartment, which was across the street from Ivy's apartment building without any drama. He was also able to drop of Ivy at the hospital to check on Zack and later he dropped her back off at ACME.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Spyde was annoyed. The damned police somehow kept showing up at areas he was either scouting for hides or planning to use to shoot more victims. Most irritating was the fact that he saw two police snipers using the historical house he was planning to use as his primary hide. He had a feeling his old mentor had something to do with this.  
  
The construction yard had ample hides he could prepare and a wider field of fire. Coming out alive would be a bonus once he killed Christopher Powers with a single round to the traitor's head. He would just have to figure out another way to kill his dress rehearsal victim before the visit of his true victim the next day.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
11 May 2000: "I can't believe you're doing this Hal!" Ivy said as they walked out of the elevator, heading for the conference room for roll call.  
  
"You mean taking charge of the sharpshooters watching over Mr. Powers. Ivy, the sort of bloke they need in charge is someone who knows exactly how Spyde operates." Hal replied.  
  
"You can pass that information on to whoever's in charge of the snipers." Ivy replied, stifling a yawn, "I need your help with this stuff. Setting up a security detail is hard work."  
  
"I can still help you with that." Hal replied, "And besides there are a couple security experts in the building who can too. You don't need to prove again that you can do it all on your own."  
  
"Hal, I never said that." Ivy replied, "I just think you'd be of more use helping me coordinate the entire detail, not just the snipers."  
  
"I see your point, but bear in mind I've actually worked with Spyde before. I know how his mind works. I know how he operates. I need to be able to take him out if the police can't stop him. Lord knows he's avoided every police dragnet since they've been on the case." Hal replied.  
  
"Fine." Ivy said, "But next time you have any crazy ideas, please warn me ahead of time."  
  
"I tried calling you last night, left you a message on your answering machine and damn near called you again."  
  
"What time did you call?" Ivy asked.  
  
"The first call came around 8:45." Hal replied.  
  
"I was still visiting Zack in the hospital then." Ivy replied, "Why is it that injuries turn all men into wimps?"  
  
"I have no idea. They never did for me." Hal replied.  
  
"Ha ha, I remember our sparring match." Ivy replied, "And your complaints over your shoulder."  
  
"Well, after the VIP escort is all over and done with, what would you say to a rematch." Hal replied, "I'll give you the full extent of jap-slapping I learned in the Regiment."  
  
"Good, you're not holding back this time." Ivy replied.  
  
"I don't intend to." Hal replied.  
  
Just then Tatiana came running out of one of the little instructional classrooms for the nearest bathroom. "Morning sickness strikes again, eh?" Hal remarked.  
  
"What are you, Canadian now?" Ivy asked.  
  
"There was a mission where we posed as a Canadian sniper team, but the details are classified." Hal replied.  
  
"So in other words, once I get clearance..." Ivy began.  
  
"Wait, I thought you had no intention of becoming a bloody spook." Hal replied.  
  
"I never said I did. I'd just love to break into British archives so I can read about some of your exploits." Ivy replied, "The ones you don't tell stories about."  
  
"There's quite a few of them." Hal replied, with a cryptic grin."  
  
"I bet I hear one of them at some point." Ivy replied. "I'll bet you dinner at a place of my choice."  
  
"You're on." Hal replied.  
  
"Darren? Olden?" Corso said, "Wells would like to see the pair of you in his office, pronto."  
  
"We're on our way." Ivy began, before Hal could say a word.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Chief Inspector Wells' office was a Spartan but colorful office in terms of forty years of ACME memorabilia that dated back from his seventeenth birthday when he first joined to his current position. Pictures, awards, and all sorts of other memos were in abundance.  
  
Grant Wells was a bald fellow, standing a little over six feet tall, in his fifties but still lean and muscular from working out quite often and teaching the afternoon self defense classes for the new detectives. He looked like he'd just eaten a cinder block.  
  
"Olden, might I ask why your name is listed as in charge of the snipers covering this event?" Wells said.  
  
"That's because I volunteered, Chief." Hal replied, "I have several years of experience...."  
  
"As a military sniper, Olden." Wells began, "Not as a police shooter."  
  
"I beg to differ. When I was on the Special Project's Team in 1997 in the UK I was in charge of the sniper detachment before I picked up my bloody commission." Hal replied, "I know the trade."  
  
"I don't doubt that. But you and Detective Darren were clearly assigned to VIP Escort duty." Wells replied.  
  
"I can best eliminate the greatest threat to Powers' life as...." Hal began.  
  
"Olden." Wells replied, "You had best be working with Darren on this case, and sharing whatever 'aces' you've got up your sleeve. There's an issue with team work afoot here. I'd have thought an SAS trooper would be able to work in a team."  
  
"We are also trained to follow our instincts and act alone at times." Hal replied, deadpan, "Chief."  
  
"Very well. If you think that you can work best commanding the snipers, you're on that job. But understand this you are not to operate on a shoot to kill basis, do you understand, unless you see a specific threat to the Minister's life." Chief replied.  
  
"Yes Chief." Hal replied.  
  
"One more thing. Detective Darren is your partner, you'd best work with her and share whatever leads you have with her. I'm big on teamwork, and I thought that a sniper and an SAS operative would be as well." Chief replied, "Now I don't want to hear about you chasing leads without backup ever again. Do we understand one another?"  
  
"Yes Chief." Hal replied.  
  
"Good. Now you're to finish up any last minute preparations before the SFPD get in to look over our security plan for tomorrow's event." Wells replied.  
  
"Right. We'll get right on it." Hal replied.  
  
As they got out of the office, Ivy said, "Hal, next time you do any late night stakeouts, please warn me ahead of time if they get us sent before Wells."  
  
"I'll make sure of that. But I turned up the most likely hide for Spyde's big hit. And I'm gonna give my former pupil a BIG surprise when he tries to execute his deed." Hal replied.  
  
"Remember what Chief said." Ivy replied.  
  
"I know, but Spyde is definitely a threat that can only be silenced by a round between the eyes." Hal said with an air of finality. The cold expression on his face was enough to drop the room temperature a few degrees, "If the student is going to abuse his knowledge, it is up to his mentor to put a stop to it."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	9. Case 1: Sniper, Part 8

Case 1: Sniper, Part 8  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
12 May 2000: "Everyone in place?" came Ivy's voice over the radio transmitter.  
  
"Sniper teams ready." Hal replied. He had taken a position on the roof, hidden inside a small shed. His rifle was set with a large field of fire covering the construction site. All he had left to do was wait for Spyde to get ready.  
  
"We're in route." Ivy said.  
  
"Right, be careful out there Ninja Girl, this sniper's got talent." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy said, "Don't worry. Hal, you'll get him, I've got faith that you'll take him down."  
  
Ivy turned towards the older man in an expensive yet tastefully conservative Armani suit sitting across from her in the limousine. Christopher Osborne Powers was a tall fellow, with a bit of silver creeping in at the temples of his combed brown hair.  
  
"This Hal fellow, is he also in ACME?" Powers asked.  
  
"Yes sir, he is." Ivy replied, "He's my new partner."  
  
"How long have you been working together?" Powers asked.  
  
"Only a few days. He's serving an exchange tour with us from the British military." Ivy said, not really wanting to say SAS.  
  
"Ah, say no more." Powers said, with a knowing look, "He's from the Regiment, isn't he?"  
  
With Ivy's silence, he took that as a yes. "They're known for not talking about their work." Powers continued, "So why isn't he with us here?"  
  
"Well, he's coordinating the sniper teams covering your speech." Ivy replied.  
  
"Ah, the infamous San Francisco Sniper." Powers began, "Back home my opponents were saying I wouldn't go through with my speech. But even if this sniper wasn't around I still feel I have to explain South Africa's progress against apartheid. My critics say I'm just trying to stay in power, but if I canceled appearances every time my life was threatened then I'd never leave my office."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
It was the big day, and Spyde felt no nervousness or fear. Just a sense that the loss he suffered would be avenged in full with Powers' death. He already knew the range from the stack of pipes he was hiding in to the podium was exactly 347 meters and he had set his crosshairs accordingly. Now all he had to do was wait till the traitor took his post and began to prattle on about the 'New South Africa' that left him bereft of family and home.  
  
He knew killing Powers wouldn't bring back his fiancé and his parents, but he knew that the price of the traitor's blood would be paid and the balance fulfilled. He made sure that he knew the positions of every single opposing sniper. He had rather artfully snuck into the area by means of mouse holing through the sewer system and surfacing through the area which the pipes were set to be placed.  
  
The area was perfect for the one shot kill, a clear firing lane, and a fairly good hide. Even if Hal was out there, Spyde knew he had the advantage of surprise, for Hal knew not when he would strike.  
  
"Damn it get out of the way." Spyde groaned. A news van had just driven right into his line of sight, blocking the podium from his shot. Now he would have to go to a different hide, exposing himself to scrutiny and a bullet. But this was too rare an opportunity. He would have to chance it.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal caught a brief movement in his scope. He confirmed it was a human figure, moving in the construction area, where no one was supposed to be. It was only a brief movement, but it was long enough to reveal that his contact was carrying a rifle, specifically an SVD Dragunov, Hal knew it was his quarry.  
  
"Ivy, I have positive ID on our boy." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy's voice replied over his earpiece, "Hal, where is he?"  
  
"He's somewhere in the construction site. Right where I said he'd be." Hal replied.  
  
"Great! I'll call a unit in to....." Ivy began.  
  
"Ivy, that's the worst thing you could do." Hal said, "We'll spook him and lose his trail. I've got him. Trust me."  
  
"Hal..." Ivy began and then replied, "You've got one shot, if you don't get him....."  
  
"I only need one shot." Hal replied with grim certainty as his scope roamed the site.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The parked bulldozer was too obvious a target, if he hid there it would be like hanging a neon sign around his neck. Spyde knew that it wasn't the right play to hide there. But there was the stack of steel girders, a partially completed building framework, and a low wall to choose from. He had checked each of those areas as potential hides and had the scope settings and ranges to his intended target perfectly memorized.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Damn it Spyde, where are you?" Hal said, forcing himself to stay calm. This was a cat and mouse game of patience where the life of a South African Defense Minister hung in the balance.  
  
"If you're smart, you'll avoid the bulldozer. You are and you're also smart enough to know that there are at least three places in that area that you could shoot from. The question is which one?" Hal continued. He watched as Ivy opened the limousine door with two policemen flanking and three bodyguards and an aide followed Mr. Powers.  
  
Now the target was in sight, it was only a matter of when Spyde would take his shot. Hal guessed that Spyde would wait until Powers reached the podium for maximum terror effect. If roles were reversed, Hal knew he would do the same.  
  
Suddenly there was a glint, an odd bit of glass? Or a telescopic sight? Hal couldn't just shoot at it only to find out it was the former. For one it would reveal his position and Spyde would be alerted to his presence. For two, he only had one chance to eliminate his former student.  
  
Powers took the podium, "Good Afternoon San Francisco. I'm here, on the behalf of the South African government to give a long overdue apology on apartheid and later this week to brief the United Nations on South Africa's attempts to overcome it....."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Standard politician drivel, like that of a snake oil salesman at a country fair, that's all he was saying. Spyde knew better than to fall for the traitor's slick silver tongue. He only desired to place a single 7.62 round between the man's eyes. And now here was his chance.  
  
He savored the moment for a second, sipping it like wine from an exquisite vintage. The traitorous bastard was in his sights, the middle of his forehead squarely in his crosshairs. This was just perfect, too good of an opportunity. And an unforeseen sight had to ruin it. He saw a glint of glass on the conference center roof, damn it! His old mentor had been observing him.  
  
It was now or never. Spyde squeezed the trigger, knowing he couldn't possibly miss. The SVD bucked in his hands as the round left the chamber.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Several people screamed and gasped in horror as Christopher Powers jerked backwards, as though struck suddenly by an electrical current. Blood splattered in an arc behind him as a red splotch appeared on his chest.  
  
Ivy instantly called the paramedics who rushed to the scene. Just then, from the roof she heard a single rifle shot as a single .338 Lapua round was sent screaming downrange towards its intended target. Through her earpiece Ivy heard one sentence, "I've got him."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
When Hal shined a bit of glass into the air, he expected Spyde to panic into firing. The response was all to predictable and the glint of a brass casing flying into the air from behind the brick wall was a dead giveaway to his quarry.  
  
He focused his crosshairs on a small hole in the wall, 372 meters distant and aimed the crosshairs slightly downward, for his rifle scope was zeroed to 500 meters. He breathed calmly, squeezing the trigger with a slow deliberate motion. He saw a spurt of blood and saw Spyde's legs convulsing through a crack in the wall. He had fired only one bullet.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The uniforms came to clear the construction site and what they found was a dead man, wearing nondescript civilian clothing with a briefcase and an SVD rifle. A single bullet hole marked where his right eye had been before the Lapua round entered and fragmented inside his head.  
  
Ivy watched as Hal walked over there, his rifle cradled in one arm. "Helluva a shot pal, I think I owe you a beer." Corso said.  
  
"Right." Hal replied. He watched as the corpse of his ex-student was placed into a body bag. Before it closed, Hal closed the dead man's eyes, "Requiescat In Pace, Erich."  
  
Corso looked at him funny and Hal replied, "He was my former protégé."  
  
Hal pulled a yellowed sheet of paper from his pocket, "Teacher, My family. The rioters killed my family. The grief is entirely and eminently unbearable. Please! I beg you, end my life before I do something rash....." Hal read, a lump in his throat, "I should have realized something was wrong then."  
  
"And what would you have done?" Ivy said, "Killed an innocent man?"  
  
"If I had known." Hal said.  
  
"Hal, there's no need for guilt." Ivy said.  
  
"Yes, I know." Hal said, "But that doesn't mean that this sight picture's gonna go away."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Case 1 Closed. Up next, an interlude of sorts followed by the next case in the next couple chapters. 


	10. Hey Mister

Hey Mister  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. This is a bit of an interlude explaining why Hal looked so haunted when he met Ivy. The events will be more fully explained later on. I got my inspiration for this from a JAG episode known as Skeleton Crew and Amanda M. Daugherty's fic by the same name.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
6 May 2000: "Speak of the devil." She heard Corso say as Ivy approached.  
  
The British soldier turned around and the look on his face was as if he'd seen a ghost. "Lieutenant?" Corso asked, "Do you know each other?"  
  
"No sir." Ivy replied.  
  
"Yes sir." The British soldier replied, then caught himself, "My apologies sir, no we don't."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
19 September 1999: He was a fairly ordinary looking fellow when he walked in. Lean, fit build, wearing a green jacket with a brown leather collar, jeans and a collared shirt, that's what I remember. And his eyes, they were small and black and radiated a certain depth to them.  
  
I figured he was one of the fellows from the Regiment or one of the attached units. This is Hereford, after all, and we get quite a few blokes from the SAS based around here. It isn't like Tidworth, a depressing little hellhole of a garrison town where I'd done three years as a boy soldier before I opened this place up. I went to grab a beer glass, I figured that was his type of poison.  
  
All sorts of blokes show up around here, some to pick up women. Some drink to celebrate. And others to drown their sorrows. That's what I figured he was here for.  
  
"Barkeep. I'll take a shot of Crown Royal." He said.  
  
"Right, gove, I'll have it ready." I replied.  
  
"Hey mister." he said to me. I turned with the decanter of whiskey and a shot glass which he took. His first shot went down with a hard swallow; I knew this wasn't his beverage type straightaway.  
  
Sometimes a barkeep's gotta be an impromptu counselor, and this bloke looked like he needed it. "Yep." I replied.  
  
"Have you ever been in love before?" he asked.  
  
Of course I'd been, and still am. My wife's gained a few pounds but is fifty times lovelier, and she's waiting for me back home. "What happened?" I replied.  
  
"We met eight years ago, when I was with the Royal Marines." He said, "She was working at an ACME field office near our barracks. I met her when we were taking night school classes together. I was nineteen at the time, she was eighteen. She was an American, I'm obviously British."  
  
"Awfully long time to mope over a breakup, isn't it?" I replied.  
  
"Diane and I were good friends, and before I knew it, I was in love with her. One night, I planned to ask her out, it was a year after we met, then she asked me had I met her boyfriend, Chris. I was devastated and requested a transfer far away. I recovered, and we both started seeing other people but over the years, we kept in touch despite the fact that our friendship was strained for a while afterward after I told her how I felt. Strangely it strengthened our friendship. Then earlier this year I worked up the courage to ask her if she wanted to try to take our friendship to the next level when she got transferred to the ACME Hereford Field Office." The man replied.  
  
"It didn't pan out?" I asked.  
  
"I was just getting there." He replied, "She and I were planning to go to her parent's cabin by a lake near her home in Indiana. We were gonna spend a couple weeks together, just talking about our feelings, and if we had a future as a couple."  
  
"What happened?" I asked.  
  
"I was on my way to the parking lot at the field office when I saw an ambulance. Thinking nothing of it, I stepped from my car to see the paramedics carrying away a body bag. The top was still open and I could see a face. As I got closer I saw the bloody face was Diane's." he replied, "Hey mister, could you take this photograph for me. I can't bear to look at it anymore. It was her answer."  
  
He handed me the picture and the woman called Diane was gorgeous. She was slim figured, with dark eyes, short auburn hair framing an oval, intelligent face. He left the bar and some other bloke took his still warm barstool. The new bloke, older than the guy I'd spoken to, placed a newspaper on the bar and gave his order.  
  
I was too busy staring at the headline to pay attention. The headline read: ACME DETECTIVE MURDERED. I saw the portrait of the detective and did a double take. In my thirty years of bartending I'd seen it all, heard it all, but this bloke's story just broke my heart. I looked over the photograph, yes, they were the same woman.  
  
I turned the picture over and written on the back, in smeared blue ink was a simple YES with a heart next to it.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
6 May 2000: Ivy wondered why Hal looked so haunted on meeting her. His hands were clammy and he had the classic deer in the headlights gaze. She didn't know the full story behind the look, and only time would tell how she would react to the fact that she looked exactly like a woman in Hal's life.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC: Up next, Hal and Ivy's next case. This was just a fic to explain Hal's haunted look when he first met Ivy. There may be a Hal and Ivy romance later on..... 


	11. Interlude

Interlude  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. Just a little fluff before the next case. The guys in Hal's stories and anecdotes will make appearances.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
13 May 2000: "Excuse me a minute!" Tatiana said and ran to the nearest bathroom.  
  
Ivy, Hal, Armando, and Maria watched as she raced across the hall and to the right from the bullpen. "Morning sickness exacerbated by Friday the 13th huh?" Armando said.  
  
"One of my old Squadron mates, Digger had a birthday on Friday the 13th when he was new to the unit. It was hilarious." Hal replied.  
  
"Why do I sense another one of your stories coming along?" Maria asked.  
  
"Because he's gonna tell one." Ivy said.  
  
"Hey." Hal replied, "Surely my anecdotes about my old days aren't THAT bad."  
  
"Tell me about the time you guys got drunk on beer and started singing the Men in Tights song." Armando said.  
  
"Who told you that!?" Hal said.  
  
"I did, bud." Corso said, walking into the bullpen with a coffee cup.  
  
"Digger, Lucas, Chad, and Mike all decided to get pissed one night at the pub." Hal replied, "That was Digger's birthday when this happened, back when we were the new blokes in G Squadron."  
  
"So what happened next?" Ivy asked.  
  
"I can answer that. They all got Digger blitzed and as they did, they started drinking down screw drivers like crazy. And what happened next was really funny, especially with Hal leading the chorus." Corso said, filling his cup.  
  
"I did no such thing you wanker!" Hal replied.  
  
"Anyhoo, they start singing, 'We're men! We're me in tights! We roam about the forest looking for fights...' like a bunch of crazy bastards." Corso began and started doing a can can. Suddenly he slipped on the floor and landed on his rear.  
  
"Serves you right for lying mate." Hal replied.  
  
"Well, I've got some paperwork to take care of. How's Zack?" Armando said.  
  
"As you say here in America, 'ditto'." Maria said.  
  
"He's getting better, he starts physical therapy tomorrow and he'll be on crutches Wednesday." Ivy replied.  
  
As Corso walked out of the room, grumbling something about wisecracking Brits and Armando and Maria followed in his wake. Hal sat over his coffee cup, looking slightly spacey.  
  
"Hal?" Ivy said, "Hello."  
  
Hal looked like he'd gone catatonic, "HAL!"  
  
"Yeah." Hal said, dazed.  
  
"Are you alright? You just started staring at me like a sprouted another head." Ivy asked, "It's kinda creepy."  
  
"Sorry about that, I just kinda zoned out." Hal replied, "Well, I'm off to do some paperwork. Bloody casefiles. Who'd have thought that shooting the San Francisco Sniper would involve so much after action writing?"  
  
As Hal walked out of the room Ivy sat alone wondering aloud to herself, "What's wrong with Hal? Ever since we met there are times where he zones out and looks at me funny."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal decided to take a walk through the building. After half an hour of trying to type a report on the incident yesterday where he put a large and sizeable hole through the head of the San Francisco Sniper, he realized there was no way in hell he was gonna get any sort of work done.  
  
As he walked through the building he thought, 'Well I really screwed up there. I was seeing Diane for a moment. Not that Ivy and Diane are a lot alike aside from appearance, but the resemblance is startling enough to blow my mind. I almost called her Diane, and that would really have been an awkward moment.'  
  
As he walked through the building, he noticed a youth, barely twenty years old, walking out of the elevator. He had dark brown hair, gray eyes, and wore a light blue button down collared shirt and brown slacks. Pinned to his shirt was a visitor's pass.  
  
"Excuse me sir, do you know where I might find Tatiana Rossovsky?" the kid asked.  
  
"And you are?" Hal asked.  
  
"Danilov Rossovsky. I'm her younger brother."  
  
"Does she know you're coming?" Hal asked.  
  
"No she doesn't. It's sort of a surprise. The Army gave me a furlough when I least expected it and it doesn't count as leave." Danilov replied.  
  
"She's currently in the bathroom, throwing up." Hal said, frankly.  
  
"Why, is she going to be alright?" Danilov said.  
  
"After the first three months she will be." Hal said, frankly.  
  
"You mean she's....." Danilov replied, eyes wide open.  
  
"Yes she is." Hal replied evenly.  
  
"I'm what?" Tatiana asked as she came around the corner.  
  
"You've got a surprise visitor." Hal said.  
  
"Oh my God!" Tatiana said, smiling broadly. The two hugged each other and kissed on the cheeks.  
  
A rapid exchange in Russian followed, from what Hal guessed were greetings and the standard questions relatives asked. "Hal, this is my brother, Danilov. He joined the Russian Army two years ago and he wants to join the Spesnatz." Tatiana said.  
  
"Really." Hal said.  
  
"If you need training help, ask Hal. He was a British Royal Marine before he joined the Special Air Service." Tatiana said.  
  
At this the youth's eyes went wide, "You're SAS?"  
  
Hal nodded, "Your sister's right."  
  
"So when did you do Selection?" Danilov asked.  
  
"1991." Hal said, "Right after I got in, Desert Storm was underway. So I missed the Gulf War."  
  
"How did you do it?" Danilov asked," How fit do you have to be?"  
  
"Look, in my Selection class I saw those big weightlifter blokes quit after the endurance marches. I've seen scrawny blokes you couldn't imagine playing racquetball make it all the way through. So you have to be physically fit, yes, but you've gotta want to be there with all your heart." Hal replied, "That works with anything, not just Selection. I don't know how things are done in Russia, but I hope my advice works."  
  
"Thank you." Danilov said.  
  
"Hal?" Armando said, "Where have you been, Wells wants to see you and Ivy in his office. You have a new case."  
  
"Bloody Friday the 13th." Hal groaned.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	12. Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 1

Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. I don't own the Jurassic Park movies either, and any characters from it that appear aren't mine. This is an alternate timeline in which Jurassic Park had opened and problems didn't develop until seven years after it opened up. I borrowed the character Jay from Steve1's fanfic Loneliness.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
13 May 2000: Hal ran into Ivy on the way to Wells' office. "What's this about?" Hal asked.  
  
"I don't know....Your guess is as good as mine." Ivy replied.  
  
Armando was on the phone at his desk near Wells' office. "Oh my God. No, it can't be...." he moaned and a few phrases in Spanish followed.  
  
"Dios mio! Dios mio!" Armando said.  
  
"Armando?" Ivy asked.  
  
"My younger brother got a construction job in Costa Rica, at that resort that's been opened up since 1993, Jurassic Park. He just had an accident....." Armando said, blinking tears from his eyes.  
  
"Is he....?" Hal began before Ivy nudged him in the rib cage.  
  
"No." Armando said, "He's in a coma though, suffering severe blood loss. They've got him on life support, and he's stabilized but they don't know if he'll......"  
  
"Darren, Olden, my office, now." Wells called out, "Arguilla, you have the day off."  
  
"You wanted to see us." Ivy said, walking in first as Hal held the door open for her.  
  
"Yes. This has a lot to do with Armando's brother." Wells said as Hal closed the door, "Sit down."  
  
Both of them sat down in the padded leather chairs facing Wells desk. Wells picked up a baseball he had on the desk, signed by the hand of Joe DiMaggio himself and rolled it about in his hands, the way he did when he was really bothered. "As you both know, John Hammond's InGen Corporation revolutionized genetic engineering back in 1993 with the opening of the Jurassic Park biological preserve."  
  
Wells passed both of them a dossier, it contained pictures of a short, old man, with snow white hair and a snow white beard. He looked fairly innocuous, with a bright gleam in his eyes reminiscent of Santa Claus. "You want us to investigate him."  
  
"No. Turn the page." Wells replied. They did and the picture of a bespectacled fellow in a business suit with close cropped brown hair and pale blue eyes was visible.  
  
"That's Peter Ludlow, John Hammond's ambitious nephew. John's contributed quite a bit to ACME over the years, and as such he maintains close ties with our organization. Mr. Ludlow is not, however, and he is attempting to badger the board of directors to take control of InGen from his uncle through any means necessary. John believes something's afoot and wants my best detectives checking on it. Officially, you two are representing ACME for one of John's gala events, so pack your formal wear. Your plane leaves in the afternoon and the event is the next day." Wells replied, "Any questions?"  
  
"Are we going undercover?" Hal began.  
  
"No, you're going as yourselves." Wells replied.  
  
"Accommodations?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Taken care of." Wells began, "Any more questions."  
  
They were silent. "Dismissed."  
  
Both of them left the room and as they got out in the hall, Ivy said, "Well since we don't fly out for another few hours, how about that sparring match?"  
  
"You're on." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
A few minutes later both Hal and Ivy were dressed out in work out clothes and pads. "Ready. Go." Corso said.  
  
Ivy and Hal warily circled each other, dodging the occasional probing attack made by the other. Ivy kicked out and Hal dodged out of the way, sweeping the back of her knee with one foot, sending her toppling forward.  
  
"Point Olden!" Corso shouted.  
  
Ivy got back up, both of them bowed to each other and circled again. Ivy noticed Hal had a tendency to cross his feet when moving side to side sometimes. She sent a sweeping kick, similar to the one Hal used to sweep her over the first time and it put Hal on the ground.  
  
"Point Darren!" Corso began.  
  
"Go Ivy!" Tatiana shouted.  
  
"I've personally got money on Hal." Said Phil, the mostly bald fellow that had helped Hal zero the rifle that killed Erich Spyde.  
  
"Bad idea Delta." Tatiana said, "Hal's in for an upset."  
  
Ivy threw an open handed strike towards Hal's seemingly exposed face with the heel of her palm. Hal slipped sideways, grabbed her wrist and attempted to throw her over his shoulder. He only partially succeeded, Ivy landed on her knees behind him and got up to face him.  
  
"Point! Olden!" Corso said.  
  
'Ow, bad idea, let left knee absorb brunt of impact.' Ivy thought. Her knee had been bothering her of late, ever since a case in Morocco a month before she met Hal.  
  
"Are you alright?" Hal said, noticing Ivy didn't put much weight on her left knee.  
  
"I'm fine." Ivy insisted.  
  
Corso noticed Ivy's slight limp, "Match canceled. Olden, you won by a nose. Darren, I can't risk you getting hurt."  
  
"Good match limey. Don't get cocky." Ivy said, "Meet me next time."  
  
"I look forward to it." Hal replied.  
  
"How's the shoulder?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Better." Hal replied, and gently asked, "Did I hurt you?"  
  
"No, you didn't, my knee's been acting up lately, I can't imagine why." Ivy replied, "I'm sure it'll go away soon."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ivy's Apartment, Riverside, California:  
  
After a quick shower and change of clothes, Ivy packed a couple extra outfits, a dress she wore for her aunt's wedding a couple years ago, one that Jay had called 'a classic', a much hated set of heels to match and a couple spare bras and other assorted items particular to a woman.  
  
She saw Hal pulling into the parking lot, just in front of her apartment just then and slung her bag over her shoulder. She walked up to the SUV and Hal opened her door for her and helped throw her bag into the back next to his well worn British Army bergen (field pack). "It's gonna be cold on that flight, Ninja Girl." Hal remarked, noticing Ivy wasn't wearing a jacket; instead she wore a blouse and a pair of jeans.  
  
"It could be worse, limey." Ivy remarked.  
  
"You're gonna get cold." Hal remarked.  
  
They got to the airport, checked in, and got onto their flight to Costa Rica. They boarded the airliner, got their seats. "Hal, could you switch seats with me? I'm so used to using the C-5 that I can't remember what it's like to fly in a plane." Ivy said.  
  
"Sure." Hal said, standing up and switching seats with Ivy, taking the aisle seat.  
  
'That's certainly sweet of him.' Ivy thought as the flight began.  
  
As the flight progressed, the air conditioning in the cabin was starting to get colder. 'Bad idea Darren, maybe you should've brought your jacket.' Ivy thought as she tried to sleep, 'Damn, what was I thinking.....Wait a second.....'  
  
Ivy's last thought was in response to the fact that she felt a sudden warmth, as if a cloth was drawn over her. Hal had apparently asked the stewardess for a blanket and draped it around her. The cozy warmth made Ivy fall asleep, leaning against Hal's left shoulder.  
  
Hal looked down at Ivy and couldn't help but smile. She looked so peaceful, so delicate when she slept. So different from the lively, tough detective he had worked with. Hal mentally asked himself the same question, 'Do I see Diane, or do I see her when I feel like this?'  
  
He leaned closer to her, putting up the arm rest, to make her a little more comfortable. Ivy rewarded him with a sleepy smile when he did so. He inched a little closer to her to give her more support and she responded by doing the same. Hal fell asleep in that position.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"So what do you want to name him?" Zack asked, from his hospital bed. It would still be a couple days before he could start physical therapy.  
  
"I don't know yet? What should we name her?" Tatiana asked.  
  
"If it's a girl, we'll name here Mira. And if it's a boy maybe Grant, after Chief Wells, if it's a boy, because Chief left such a big impression on me." Zack said.  
  
"Zack I'm hurt!" the Chief said, it was the computerized Chief who had recently been reactivated and 'partnered' with Chief Inspector Wells, much to the latter's chagrin.  
  
"You did, but I don't think Chief is a great name for a son." Zack replied.  
  
"Or daughter." Tatiana said.  
  
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Time OUT! Son? Children? Marriage? C'mon, throw me a bone, I've been inactive for the past eight years 'cause of that stupid virus." The Chief said.  
  
"Tatiana and I have been engaged for a year and a half." Zack said, "I got shot by the San Francisco Sniper, and I'm a father, because of a night of tomfoolery in Hawaii."  
  
With mock hurt Tatiana said, "It was more than one night Zackary. If I recall it was more like seven nights, and eight days."  
  
"My detectives all eight years older, Zack getting married and having a baby, my what have I missed out on?" the Chief asked.  
  
"Well you missed out on Ivy's new partner." Tatiana began, "He's an SAS operative named Harold Olden, everyone calls him Hal though."  
  
"Whoa! Too much information here! I'm still trying to process Zack being a future husband and a DAD at the same time." The Chief replied, "Have Ivy and Jay tied the knot yet?"  
  
"No. Jay and Ivy broke up for good three years ago." Zack said, "She still misses him. Sometimes I see her crying when she's alone."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Jay, please! We can make it work. Please don't leave...." Ivy muttered.  
  
For the past hour Ivy's sleep hadn't been peaceful and Hal had awakened to her muttering. "Shhh, it's ok. Ivy it's just a dream, it can't hurt you."  
  
He gently put his arms around her to quiet her down and Ivy quit stirring and slept peacefully again. Hal felt his left arm had pins and needles from the position he and Ivy had been sleeping in.  
  
The plane continued its flight over the Pacific without further incident. Ivy seemed to be sleeping just fine and two hours later Hal fell asleep. They just sat together, Ivy with the blanket draped around her, Hal not needing it due to his jacket. They were close enough that their heads were touching. It was a few hours later that the plane touched down in San Jose.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	13. Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 2

Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 2  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. BTW I made up the part about Hammond being a former officer in the British Army.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hal, we're landing." Ivy said, nudging the side of the sleepy Englishman beside her.  
  
"Huh? Wanker, I guess I was more tired than I thought." Hal groaned.  
  
Ivy was already putting her chair back to the upright position and folding her blanket. Hal moved his chair back as well and gathered his day bag from under the chair. As they moved through the baggage claim and retrieved their bags they were greeted by John Hammond, wearing a loose fitting short sleeved white shirt and slacks and bearing a bamboo cane with an amber drop at its zenith.  
  
"Detectives Darren and Olden?" Hammond said, "What are your first names by the way? When I talked to Grant yesterday he told me that you two were coming but being an old man I'm rather forgetful with names sometimes."  
  
"Hal Olden."  
  
"Ivy Darren."  
  
"Hal, Ivy, John Hammond, I'm delighted to meet you in person. Ms. Darren, you came highly recommended by Grant." Hammond said, and facing Hal he asked, "Are you related to Captain Olden by any chance."  
  
"He's my father." Hal replied.  
  
"I served with him in Aden, when I was in the Army. 22 SAS was quite helpful to us." Hammond said.  
  
"That's my unit." Hal said.  
  
"Ah, enlisted or officer?" Hammond asked.  
  
"I was enlisted for several years until I got commissioned back in 1996, by the time of which I was a corporal." Hal replied.  
  
"I always expected Henry Olden's son to be an officer if he went into the service." Hammond said, nostalgically, "I'm sorry about Oman...."  
  
"You've nothing to apologize for." Hal replied.  
  
"I served with your father during the Oman crisis. He was a good man, a fine officer, and a wonderful friend." Hammond said.  
  
As they talked they climbed into a car driven by one of Hammond's employees, an old family friend he introduced as Mark. "Mark's family and mine have been associated for nearly ten generations." Hammond explained, indicating the severe looking man in his late fifties with thinning gray hair and dressed in a golf shirt and khaki trousers driving the car.  
  
"I've got an event tomorrow that you two were invited to. I'm going to give you a tour of the facilities, the behind the scenes tour and the part that tourists don't usually see." Hammond continued as they rode off to the helipad.  
  
As Mark opened the door and Hammond stepped out of the car followed by Hal and Ivy an Augusta 109 landed. The sleek helicopter Hal recognized because he had rappelled from them many times when he was with the counter- terrorist team back in 1995. They climbed aboard and the helicopter flew west 120 miles to the island of Isla Nublar, to Jurassic Park.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Zack, how about we get started on physical therapy a little early." Tatiana said.  
  
"Tatiana, I'm not sure I can." Zack said, "I mean I start on Sunday."  
  
"You'll be fine, here, hold on to me and I'll help you walk a few steps and then we'll walk back to your bed. Ok?" Tatiana asked.  
  
"Oh, alright honey." Zack said, and Tatiana helped him out of bed. He made it a few steps before he stumbled and his weight dragged Tatiana down with him. Both of them fell tangled in each others arms.  
  
"Shouldn't you take me to dinner first?" Tatiana remarked, brushing a strand of her golden hair from her face.  
  
"I would, but I'm injured and I'm broke." Zack replied, gamely. Tatiana helped him to his feet and led him back to the bed and tucked him back in.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
A gray gas powered Jeep Wrangler awaited the entourage at the helipad. It conducted them towards a large electrified fence. The gate opened when two fellows in coral colored golf shirts opened it.  
  
"Oh my God!" Ivy exclaimed.  
  
Hal, who had been dozing lightly for the past few minutes awoke, "What is it? By the King James Bible.....!" Hal exclaimed.  
  
Both of them were staring open mouthed at a brachiosaurus grazing from a tree about twenty meters away. Though they had heard about this park, seen images of it on television and in advertising for years, the reality of the sight still was wondrous to behold.  
  
"My idea, detectives." John Hammond began, "Welcome to Jurassic Park."  
  
Hammond smiled broadly as he saw their reactions. He always loved seeing the looks on the faces of guests whenever they first saw a living, breathing dinosaur. He remembered opening day in 1993 and the faces of the first guests as they stared in astonishment. The jeep drove on towards a large white structure with brown rooftops. The Visitor's Center's gleaming white façade made it gleam like a diamond in the sunlight.  
  
"Mark, take their belongings to the hotel, I've laid on lunch for you two in the Discovery Room. I'll go check on it, wait here." Hammond said.  
  
"Allosaurus." Ivy said, inspecting a nearby skeleton.  
  
"Carnivore, right? Cretaceous?" Hal asked.  
  
"Yes to the first, wrong to the second. Allosaurus, meaning 'other lizard' it was a distant cousin of the Tyrannosaurus Rex." Ivy said, she began to examine the skeleton.  
  
"I didn't know you were a dinosaur nut." Hal replied.  
  
"I used to spend hours at the museum when I was a little girl." Ivy said, "It's almost like your obsession with medieval history. Just look around my book shelf and you'll see my interest in dinosaurs."  
  
"Really." Hal said, "You know, last time I was over I distinctly recall having seen a weird bug thing encased in rock on your wall in the bathroom."  
  
"That's called a trilobite Hal." Ivy said, "They're primitive sea dwelling invertebrates."  
  
"What's with the book?" Hal asked.  
  
"It's by Doctor Alan Grant, one of the foremost names in paleontology today." Ivy said, "He's a proponent of the theory that dinosaurs evolved into birds, velociraptor intelligence and the like."  
  
"Please don't inflate Alan's ego any more than it already is." Said a voice behind them.  
  
A slim blonde woman wearing khaki shorts, a blue t-shirt, and a pink collared shirt walked over to them. "Doctor Ellie Sattler, I'm a colleague of Doctor Grant's."  
  
Ivy brightened, grinning like a kid, "Is he here?"  
  
"He is." Ellie replied, "Hey Alan, you've got yourself another admirer. Who are you two by the way?"  
  
"Ivy Darren."  
  
"Harold Olden."  
  
A medium built fellow in his late thirties came around a corner. "Alan this is Ivy Darren."  
  
"Wait a minute, you're the ACME Detective that recovered the stolen fossils from the Smithsonian in 1992." Alan Grant said, "I should ask for your autograph."  
  
"You work for ACME?" Ellie asked.  
  
"We do." Hal replied.  
  
"Those are some wild theories you have about dinosaur linguistics." Ivy began, "I read your article in the Scientific American last week."  
  
"Well, it stands to reason that dinosaurs had a greater 'vocabulary' if you will than simply 'roar' or its equivalents." Alan Grant began, "For example, this cast of the insides of a velociraptor's skull indicates a sort of channel designed to amplify sound."  
  
"Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, I see you've met my other guests." Hammond began, "Doctor Malcolm, Mister Gennaro, and my grandchildren Alexis and Timothy are in the Discovery Room right now. Chilean sea bass is the menu for today."  
  
"I remember operations in the Orient once." Hal said to Ivy, "One that's not classified at least. I remember our SQMS (Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant) wanted to get a feed of fish one day. We were off the coast of Malaya, in the midst of nowhere. Anyhow he decides to take half a Bangalore torpedo and two hand grenades and threw them into the water, thinking he'd get a couple fish. We wound up living off seafood for an entire month after he did that."  
  
They were now sitting at the table after being introduced to the other five people in the room. Peter Ludlow sat at the table, together with a fellow in an Armani suit with thinning brown hair named Donald Gennaro, a self effacing man in black named Ian Malcolm, and two teenagers named Lex and Tim.  
  
"Certainly a nice abuse of power," Ian Malcolm began, "A lot like John's project, really. I'm sure you weren't starving or anything were you."  
  
"We weren't, but a fresh is always good for unit morale." Hal replied, "We didn't waste the fish either, we just had fish with every meal for a bloody month."  
  
"Yeah, but don't you see the effects of a few pounds of explosive on a reef." Malcolm began, "I know there weren't any laws you broke, but that doesn't mean you should...."  
  
"I wasn't there at the time it happened, I was cleaning my rifle at the river mouth when I heard a bang coming from the beach." Hal replied.  
  
"Anyway, as I was saying." Malcolm began, "Genetic power, the most awesome force the planet's ever seen and you're wielding it like a kid with his father's gun."  
  
"Now see what you've done." Ivy joked, "You just caused a massive criticism of John Hammond's idea with one of your non-classified stories of your time in the Regiment."  
  
"Maybe this isn't the smartest idea in the world." Hal said, "Two species separated by millions of years, thrown amongst each other and separated only by electrical fencing. It seems like a recipe for disaster."  
  
"That's awfully pessimistic." Ivy remarked, as they filed out of the Discovery Room.  
  
"I always hope for the best, Ivy, but experience taught me to expect the worst." Hal replied.  
  
As they walked along, Hammond explained that Gennaro, Malcolm, Grant and Sattler were there as part time experts that reviewed the safety, growth, and other aspects of the park.  
  
Ahead of the men Ellie and Ivy were talking about something to do with prehistoric plants. Malcolm gave Hal a sly grin and asked, "So what exactly is the relationship between yourself and Ms. Darren?"  
  
"We're partners." Hal replied, "I only started working with her last week."  
  
"Last week, huh? Because the way you looked at her sometimes makes it sound like you'd known each other longer than that." Malcolm remarked.  
  
"Long story." Hal replied. They first visited the control room, which was a large area with banks of computers of all types. A fat man with glasses in a Hawaiian shirt and a black man chain smoking cigarettes were arguing about something.  
  
"That's Dennis Nedry and Ray Arnold, our chief programmer and chief engineer respectively." Hammond replied, "Ray, Dennis, you already know Doctors Sattler, Malcolm and Grant, and Gennaro. The two new faces are Hal Olden and Ivy Darren, from ACME."  
  
"You mean those Mensa kids that run around playing junior detective." Nedry remarked.  
  
"I'd love to see you try to run." Ivy said, cattily, "But I doubt you could unless it was running forty feet for a doughnut."  
  
"Ivy!" Hal remarked, "I do believe the Mensa kids part was a compliment. And yes we are best known for chasing Carmen Sandiego, but those are the junior detectives. The senior ones usually do normal police work of various types."  
  
"So why are you guys here?" Ray Arnold asked.  
  
"We're investigating the injured worker case." Ivy replied, not supplying the real reason they were there, "We work for the corporate safety branch of ACME."  
  
At this, Ludlow, who was walking with them, looked slightly uncomfortable as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Ivy noticed it and mentally filed it away in her mind.  
  
"Well, I'll leave you two to get your things sorted out." Hammond said, "I'll see you at dinner."  
  
Hal and Ivy walked back to the hotel, which was one of three of them facing Cretaceous Courtyard. Hal put his bag away and fell aslee[ in front of the television watching something when his room phone rang.  
  
"Hal? It's Ivy. Are you coming to dinner?"  
  
Hal sat up, and looked at his watch. It was six o'clock, time for dinner. "Damn!" Hal replied, throwing on his shirt and running down the hallway to the elevator where Ivy was waiting for him with a wry grin on her face. Ellie, Alan, and Ian were also around the elevator.  
  
"Men." Ellie remarked, "Never on time."  
  
"Hal does this all the time at ACME. He'll be on time one day and miss roll call the next five." Ivy replied.  
  
"Did they teach you timeliness in the Royal Marines?" Malcolm said.  
  
"They did, it just didn't take." Hal remarked, "Anyway, Ivy has an internal clock that is accurate to the second. What time is it now?"  
  
"It's about five minutes and fifteen seconds past the hour." Ivy remarked, without looking at her watch and her back was to the grandfather clock behind her.  
  
"How on earth do you do that?" Hal remarked.  
  
"I wonder how you made it through twelve years of military service with your constant tardiness?" Ivy replied.  
  
"With difficulty and a lot of getting chewed out by the DS (Directing Staff) during Selection." Hal replied.  
  
"Dinner should be very interesting with these two." Malcolm mused.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	14. Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 3

Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 3  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
13 May 2000: 'Five....six...seven guards in that corridor alone.' Hal thought, instinctively assessing the security systems of Jurassic Park. Part of his SAS training taught him how to either infiltrate such facilities or take notes on them for later assaults, 'They're all carrying nothing lighter than .40 caliber handguns. I also noted two carrying 12- gauge shotguns in the guardroom eight meters down that side corridor.'  
  
'What's he doing?' Ivy thought, watching Hal, who seemed to be cataloging the locations of security cameras and guards.  
  
Peter Ludlow joined the group at the table with John Hammond sitting at the head of it. To his right sat his nephew and to his left sat Gennaro. "A wonderful recipe on the menu for tonight, shrimp cocktails followed by Alberto's famous Caribbean chicken is what we're having. Dessert's a surprise."  
  
Ivy noticed Ludlow seemed distracted, slightly nervous, yet hiding it fairly well from everyone else at the table. "I hate to be morbid at the table, but what can you tell me about the Arguilla accident last week?" Ivy said.  
  
"You mean the construction worker that got injured." Ludlow began, "May I ask why you're interested?"  
  
"His brother's a colleague and friend of ours." Hal replied, coming to Ivy's aid. She shot him a look that was a mixture of a thank you and an 'I can handle him myself'. He decided to focus on the thank you and smiled back at her.  
  
"A dreadful incident, really." Hammond said, "I was visiting my daughter in America when this happened. Peter told me that he fell from a scaffolding and an earth mover had run him over."  
  
"Do you think we could look at the medical records from this incident?" Ivy asked, "Not that we don't trust you, we just need to review the facts."  
  
"Of course. I'll have Peter take care of that for you." Hammond replied.  
  
"Well, I'm certainly famished." Malcolm quipped.  
  
"As am I." Hal said, with a serious tone, "Trust me, being a marine I've eaten in some pretty nasty circumstances."  
  
Dinner went by smoothly with only a little banter, the only noteworthy event was that Ludlow left the table, ostensibly to go handle some reports that needed looking over and to get the accident reports ready.  
  
"So, have either of you heard anything about nonlinear dynamics? Strange attractors?" Malcolm asked Hal and Ivy.  
  
"My brother's talked about it sometimes, but it's over my head." Ivy said.  
  
"I refuse to believe that attraction is a concept over your head, Ivy." Malcolm began.  
  
Grant rolled his eyes, which caused Hal to chuckle. "He's used that line, or variations of it, before." Grant replied.  
  
"If I wasn't already with you when he said it, I would have been charmed, personally." Ellie replied, "What about you Hal, is there someone special in your life?"  
  
For a moment Ivy saw what seemed to be a flash of pain under Hal's normally controlled façade. "No, not right now, I'm single and enjoying it. I find it liberating in fact." Hal replied.  
  
'Though damned lonely.' Hal thought, 'That really hit a sore point with me. It hasn't even been a year since Diane was murdered and now I'm partnered with someone who looks exactly like her.'  
  
"Really?" Ellie said, in a tone that said, 'I don't really believe you, but I don't want to rock the boat.'  
  
"I'm sure someone will come along for me eventually." Hal replied.  
  
"What about you, Ivy?" Ellie asked.  
  
"I was, until three years ago. We broke up for good then. Beforehand it was on again, off again." Ivy said, "The sad part is I really loved him but as the years went by he changed."  
  
"People do sometimes. Who knows, maybe the person who'll steal your heart away is right under your nose." Ellie said, taking a subtle glance at Hal who nearly choked on his water.  
  
Grant slapped him on the back and said, "My fiancé's gotten into a match making streak lately. I apologize."  
  
Hal coughed out, "Accepted, and no need to apologize."  
  
"Well, we've got a long day tomorrow, I'm going to bed, good night." Ivy said.  
  
Alan Grant stood up, gave Ellie a kiss and said, "I'll see you back at the room, clothing is optional, you know."  
  
"Alan." Ellie said, in a chastising but teasing tone, "Behave."  
  
"So, were you and Ivy ever involved?" Malcolm asked.  
  
"No." Hal replied, "I only started working with her a week or so back."  
  
"Well you seemed to space out sometimes when you looked at her. What was that all about?" Ellie said, "I'm sure it wasn't some kind of infatuation."  
  
He told her about Diane. There was something about Dr. Sattler that made her trustworthy, someone he could tell his darkest secret to. He told her almost everything, how they met, how they were ready to take their relationship to the next level when she died.  
  
"That's rough." Ellie said, "I don't think I could handle that. You really must have loved her."  
  
"I did, with all my heart. I'm not sure I can't either sometimes." Hal replied, "Sometimes when I see Ivy it's like staring at Diane's ghost even though they're nothing alike. I mean, I like working with Ivy, it's like we compliment each other. I'm starting to befriend her, but I'm not sure how she'd react to this whole thing."  
  
"You've gotta tell her some time. And if your friendship with her blossoms into something more, I'm sure Diane would give you her blessing from above." Ellie replied.  
  
"It's not been a year yet, since it happened, but somehow talking to you makes it feel better." Hal replied, "And right now, I'm not sure if I'm really looking for love right now."  
  
"If you want to find love, stop trying to look for someone just like Diane. I'm sorry but she's gone and no one in the world can replace her. Don't close your heart off to others though. Remember your own saying, they'll be someone along for you eventually." Ellie replied, leaving Hal alone with his thoughts.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal went to meet Ivy at her room, "So what did you see in that report?"  
  
"Nothing out of the ordinary. It's just how Hammond described it, but I've got a nagging feeling...." Ivy said.  
  
"Really." Hal said.  
  
"I can't put a finger on it, yet, but I know something's wrong." Ivy replied.  
  
'Though you're going to really go off on me if I told you just how I plan to get a hold of what exactly is wrong.' Ivy thought, 'Therefore I'm not telling you jack.'  
  
"Well, I'm going to turn in for the night." Hal replied, "I'll see you tomorrow morning."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Harold." The voice came, it was a woman's voice, kind and soothing.  
  
"Diane?" Hal asked, "Where are you?"  
  
"Come into the light." Diane replied.  
  
"What light?" Hal replied. The area around him was dark and forbidding.  
  
"Find the light, it will set you free." Diane replied cryptically.  
  
Hal saw a light in the middle of the darkened area in which he stood. In the center of the cone of light stood Diane, she wore white and seemed to exude an angelic beauty, surpassing that which she had in life. "Diane."  
  
"Harold, please, I can't stay, you know that." Diane replied, "But know that people in this world need you now."  
  
The world distorted and again Hal stood in the parking lot in Hereford, seeing the stretcher and the body bag. The top was open, and Hal saw Diane's face again, this time, half of it was covered with blood. Bells started ringing, no, chimes of some sort and Hal sat up in bed, realizing it was his alarm clock ringing and the next day had dawned.  
  
Diane's words floated airily in his head, "But know that people in this world need you now."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	15. Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 4

Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 4  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. Hope you don't mind a little fluff before the main action. Also, the anecdotes about Diane will tie together at a later date. I could use some suggestions, though, about how Ivy could find out about Diane.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
14 May 2000: "He's late again?" Malcolm said to Ivy, "I do notice Detective Olden has a habit of being late."  
  
"You have no idea." Ivy said, rolling her eyes, "He'll either arrive barely in time or about ten minutes after he's due."  
  
"Speak of the devil." Malcolm said.  
  
Hal walked into the Discovery Room, the private party dining area which featured an elaborate tropical motif with a few mockups of fossilized amber and dinosaur murals on the walls, "Sorry I'm late."  
  
"It's alright." Hammond said, "We were just starting breakfast."  
  
"Hal, you should really invest in a good alarm clock." Ivy joked.  
  
"You wound me, fair lady." Hal replied.  
  
'Anyone else, Olden, and you'd be flat on your six, I kinda like hearing that from you though.' Ivy thought. Instead she merely rolled her eyes and said, "Sit down."  
  
"So which tour are you taking today?" Hal asked, "The River Cruise or the Ground Tour?"  
  
"I'm taking the ground tour." Ivy said, "With Dr. Sattler and Lex."  
  
"It's a girl's day out. We're taking that tour because it finishes earlier than the River Cruise." Ellie said, "And so we can talk about you guys uniterrupted..."  
  
Alan Grant rolled his eyes and Malcolm chuckled followed by Hal after he swallowed his last measure of his cup of coffee. They split off into their groups after breakfast and got onto their respective tours.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ivy, Lex, and Ellie got onto the electric Ford Explorers that traveled on a loop through the park. They had one to themselves since it was still earlier and the tourists were just waking up. Ellie touched monitor display for the computer in the front seat that controlled the language that the tour would be conducted in. She picked English and said, "It's an interactive CD ROM. It automatically updates the tour based on which part of the park we're in."  
  
The tour started and Richard Kiley's voice began to speak, "Welcome to Jurassic Park."  
  
The doors of a large, fairly imposing gate opened up. "So what's it like being an ACME detective?" Lex asked.  
  
"It has its ups and downs." Ivy said, "Like anything else."  
  
"Because I'm going to work for them as a computer programmer when I finish college." Lex said, "I got a tour of HQ last week when you and Hal were working on that sniper case. Are you guys going out?"  
  
"What?" Ivy said, laughing as she said this. 'Though I wouldn't mind, I really want to figure that man out. He's so mysterious, so guarded though....'  
  
"No we aren't." Ivy replied.  
  
"I thought you guys were at first, because you seem to get along so well." Lex said.  
  
"Normally we do. Though sometimes Hal does have a tendency to go his own way when he thinks he's right about something." Ivy said, "That's his most frustrating trait. He's also full of surprises it seems. Sometimes I worry about him though."  
  
"Really, what for?" Ellie asked.  
  
"Lately he's seemed a little distracted, like something's wrong with him that he's not telling me." Ivy said, "I really don't want to intrude on his personal affairs, but..."  
  
"Trust me, he needs to get it off his chest." Ellie said, "You need to ask him too."  
  
"If you'll look to the right, you'll see one of the first dinosaurs on our tour, called Dilophosaurus. One of the earliest carnivores we now know that Dilophosaurus is actually poisonous, spitting its venom at its prey causing blindness and eventually paralysis allowing the carnivore to eat at its leisure. This makes Dilophosaurus a beautiful but deadly addition to Jurassic Park." Richard Kiley's recorded voice spoke.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The Jungle River cruise was on tour boats that ran along a track through the river. Tim Murphy, John Hammond's sixteen-year-old nephew sat with Ian Malcolm, Alan Grant and Harold Olden.  
  
The first place the boats went through was the pterodactyl aviary. The pterodactyls were kept in a dome shaped aviary with a lot of space for the five birds inside. "The airborne reptiles you see now are not considered dinosaurs. Pterodactyls are flying reptiles...."  
  
"So Tim, how's that scholarship application coming along?" Grant asked.  
  
"It's going well." Tim replied, "I'm actually the top competitor in my school for it."  
  
"Great Alan, now you've got another version of you running around." Malcolm joked.  
  
Hal observed their banter just as an older fellow approached him, "Excuse me, is that a G-Shock diver's watch?"  
  
"Yes it is." Hal replied.  
  
"How much did it cost you." The older Englishman asked him.  
  
"A little over 100 pounds." Hal replied, "I bought it when I was in London last."  
  
"Really, what's your job?" the gentleman asked. He had graying brown hair and looked to be in his mid forties.  
  
"I test Land Rovers for a living." Hal replied.  
  
"I saw you yesterday. Where's your wife?" an older woman, the gentleman's wife, presumably, asked.  
  
"Oh, we're not married." Hal replied.  
  
"Are you dating?" the woman said.  
  
"No, we're just friends." Hal replied.  
  
"You seemed quite interested in her." The woman said.  
  
"Oh for God's sake Brad, leave the man alone." The older man said, "Sorry for that."  
  
"It's alright." Hal replied.  
  
"So, Hal," Malcolm asked, "Who was this Diane that you were talking about with Ellie?"  
  
Malcolm hadn't heard the whole story because he'd excused himself to go to bed. "She was a good friend of mine I met when I was stationed in the Royal Marine Barracks in London. She and I took night school classes together. She was eighteen, I was nineteen when we met. She was American, and an ACME detective, I was a British Royal Marine....."  
  
Hal went through the whole story, how Diane had already had a boyfriend when he had fallen in love with her a year later, how their friendship had been strained over his feelings for her for a few years, and, "...It was early last year when I was being shipped out to Belize for a deployment. We had plans to go to her parent's cabin by the lake near her home in Indiana afterward to talk about if it was possible to start a relationship. I said I'd give her the length of the deployment to answer my question, 'Do you think we can have a real, meaningful relationship?' I got the answer three days before I was set to return...."  
  
"What did she say?" Grant asked.  
  
"Yes." Hal replied. He'd told that story twice in two days and he didn't want to talk about it anymore.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"How'd the tour go, Ninja Girl?" Hal asked Ivy with a grin.  
  
"Not so bad, Limey, yours?" Ivy asked.  
  
The two groups had gotten together as Grant asked to see the Raptor Containment area. They walked through a large, imposing gate where two sentries stood watch. "The gate is controlled by the control shack on the hill. It's remotely controlled access, not just anyone can go into the Raptor Containment Area. We haven't been able to fit them into the park setting still....." Hammond explained.  
  
"You've been saying that for the past seven years John. All you've done is dug a moat around the raptor, pen, added more fencing and...." Malcolm began as they crossed a footbridge.  
  
"Feeding time." Hammond explained as a steer was being lowered into a large concrete structure with a San Quentin style gun tower and sporting electric fences and electrified metal cage bar roof.  
  
The roof opened up as they climbed to the top of the observation deck. As soon as the steer was lowered to the ground they could hear animal yowls in the depths of the pen. Then the sounds of tearing flesh and breaking bone could also be heard as well. Within fifteen seconds the steer was dismembered and eaten. A severely torn up and destroyed harness was winched up from the pen.  
  
"They should all be destroyed." Came a voice with the sort of accent Hal knew was associated with former British colonists. A fellow wearing a bush hat, khaki shirt and shorts and a khaki safari vest came walking over, a holstered pistol at his side.  
  
"Ah, Robert, Robert Muldoon, my game warden in Kenya. Bit of an alarmist I'm afraid but knows more about Raptors than anyone...." John Hammond began, "Robert, this is Harold Olden and Ivy Darren, two ACME detectives."  
  
"These things are lethal at eight months and I mean lethal. I've hunted most things that can hunt you but the way these things move. Fast for biped, cheetah speed, fifty-sixty miles per hour if they got out in the open. And they're astonishing jumpers." Muldoon continued.  
  
"Yes, yes, that's why we're taking extreme precautions..." Hammond began.  
  
"They're extremely intelligent. Even problem solving intelligent. Especially the big one. We bred a dozen originally but when she came in she took over the pride and killed all but four of the others. That one, when she looks at you, you can see she's figuring things out. That's why we have to feed them like this, she had them all attacking the fences when the feeders came. They never attack the same place twice. They remember...." Muldoon began.  
  
Hal stared into the pen, as did Ivy. Both of them were thinking the same thing. If even one of those things got loose, even one, it could cause tremendous havoc around the park before it was killed or captured.  
  
"Have any ever escaped?" Hal asked.  
  
Peter Ludlow, who had been hovering outside the group said, "I assure you, none have done so recently."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Some time later, Hal and Ivy hung back from the main group. "I don't trust him." Ivy said.  
  
"Neither do I." Hal replied, "I can't help but wonder about those velociraptors though. If they ever escaped...."  
  
"Hal, nothing's gonna happen." Ivy said, with more confidence than she actually had, "Well let's see what information we can garner from Mr. Ludlow tonight at the ball."  
  
"Right." Hal said, "I'll go see what I can garner from Muldoon. It seems like he knows more than he lets on. But Ludlow seems to have him under his thumb."  
  
"Now, I've got a ball to get ready for." Ivy said, smiling.  
  
"I'll pick you up at six-thirty." Hal replied.  
  
"Don't be late, like you've been all week."  
  
"You're never letting me forget that, are you?" Hal replied.  
  
"I'm not." Ivy said, "But just remember, we've got work to do."  
  
"I know." Hal replied as Ivy walked off to her hotel room.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	16. Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 5

Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 5  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. In addition, I don't own the lyrics to Lady in Red, Chris DeBurgh owns them. I promise in all this there's more elements of the plot. My apologies if this is a tad too mushy.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
14 May 2000: 'We're going as friends, get a grip on yourself Darren. You've only known this guy for a week, what is it about him?' Ivy thought.  
  
The doorbell to her room rang, "Ivy, it's Hal, are you ready?"  
  
'Oh get a grip and compose yourself Darren.' Ivy thought, remembering one of her old instructors when she was a beginning detective, 'It's only your partner. But damn when he looks at you with those eyes of his....'  
  
Outside the door Hal was having similar thoughts, 'Oh for God's sake, she's your partner. You're going as friends. Why the hell then, am I feeling like a teenager at the winter formal and....'  
  
Ivy opened the door and both of them were at a loss for words. From what Hal knew of her, Ivy rarely to never wore dresses, but when she did wear one she could make it look good. Her short auburn hair was neatly combed back, a pair of diamond earrings sparkling in the light. She wore a wine red dress, her skirt falling to a couple inches above her ankles, the top was high cut with spaghetti straps. She even wore heels for the occasion. It was a simple dress, not flashy or elaborate, but it was a beautiful kind of simple. She even had her usual scent, that light lilac smell she wore in light doses at work but tonight she wore just enough of it to be noticeable.  
  
"You look great." Hal said, he was consciously aware he had to look like a gawking idiot.  
  
To say Hal cleaned up nicely was an understatement. His close cropped hair was combed down, neatly and he wore a comfortably fitting black suit with a blue silk shirt and a darker blue tie with small yellow diamond patterns.  
  
'He's wearing that cologne again. I love that smell.' Ivy thought and then said, "You didn't clean up too badly yourself, marine."  
  
"Shall we." Hal said, taking her right arm in his left in an escort position.  
  
"We're gonna be late if we stand here talking all night." Ivy replied. They walked off to a tastefully themed ballroom in the hotel across Cretaceous Court known as the Cabo Blanco room. It had a cheerful, almost Polynesian motif to it.  
  
"Well," Ivy said, "I'm going to go talk to Hammond again, see if I can't coax any details out of him over the accident."  
  
"Right, I see Muldoon over there at the bar, I'll go talk to him about his view on the accident." Hal replied, "Leave room on your dance card?"  
  
"There's room for you." Ivy smiled warmly.  
  
Hal smiled back, it was a sincere and honest smile but it had an undertone of sadness in it. She could see Hal was hurting about something, but refused to talk about it.  
  
'That went well.' Hal thought, 'But was I seeing Ivy on my arm, or Diane, I don't know.'  
  
'Hal, please, let me help you.' Ivy thought, 'Whatever it is.'  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Barkeep, another scotch." Muldoon said.  
  
"Put that one on my tab, and also add me one draft beer." Hal replied.  
  
"Any reason you're being generous?" Muldoon said.  
  
"None particular, mate." Hal replied, "I just have a question or two to ask. One I know you couldn't answer because a certain corporate pinhead had you by the balls."  
  
"This has to be in confidence." Muldoon replied, taking another sip of his scotch.  
  
"Have there ever been any velociraptor escapes? Recent ones?" Hal replied.  
  
"That spotless safety record Ludlow talked about is absolute crap. We have had several raptor escapes. We had one in 1987, when we were under construction two workers died, two in 1991, one worker was seriously maimed, one in 1993 before opening day, one guard permanently disabled and two dead. The most recent was earlier this week. A raptor escaped during a feeding. It didn't get out of the containment area, but it still managed to kill two construction workers and injure a third, your Mr. Arguilla, before we recaptured it." Muldoon replied.  
  
"Thank you." Hal replied.  
  
"Don't go reporting that to Hammond. Too much is at stake for me and all of us." Muldoon said, "You were right, Ludlow has me by the balls."  
  
"Really." Hal replied, "How?"  
  
"Blackmail." Muldoon said, "I'm a wanted man. Let's say as a young man I participated in several incidents I regretted. One of which was a massacre. I lead a group of rebels through the brush and they wound up destroying an entire village. He's threatening to turn me over to authorities in the Congo, where this took place, if I ever reveal this information."  
  
"Trust me, I'm not about to allow that to happen." Hal replied, "I'm not going to report ever having had this conversation to anyone, except my partner."  
  
"You mean the woman dancing with Ludlow right now." Muldoon said, with a grin, "You want some advice. Go for her."  
  
"I will." Hal replied, "I'm not the sort to just go and cut in."  
  
"Well the song's almost over, go for it." Muldoon said, turning his stool around to go watch.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"The accident was regrettable, two workers killed and one injured by an earth mover." Hammond said, "I've told you all I know."  
  
"Trust me, you're not a suspect." Ivy said, "I just need to know who was in charge that night."  
  
"My nephew Peter. He's a trustworthy young man, a sound thinker and one skilled businessman." Hammond replied.  
  
Ivy glanced over at the bar to see Hal was still talking to Muldoon. Peter Ludlow approached them just then, smartly attired in another expensive three-piece suit, "May I have this dance, Ms. Darren."  
  
'Might as well be polite, even though this guy sounds like he's got the ethics of a sewer rat and I'd rather dance with a corpse than him.' Ivy replied, "You may."  
  
Ludlow led Ivy onto the dance floor and the pair danced. Ivy thought him lecherous by the way he held her, too strongly and too close for her comfort. She found herself waiting for the song to end, so he'd let go of her. She knew his type, fellow in his late thirties/early forties, thinking that the money and power he held could seduce all young women. Maybe some eager young female exec trying to get ahead in the company, the sort who sleeps her way to the top, might be attracted to him, but Ivy could only see the shallow, selfish, consuming greed that he reeked of. At last the song was over and they parted.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
As Ludlow and Ivy danced Ellie stopped Hal at the bar. "Please tell me you're not jealous." She said.  
  
"Not really." Hal replied.  
  
"He's definitely not her type. A girl can tell." Ellie said, "And for the record, you are jealous."  
  
"Maybe just a little." Hal replied.  
  
"Please tell me you plan to ask her to dance tonight." Ellie replied.  
  
"I was on my way to do just that. Now if you'll excuse me." Hal replied.  
  
Alan Grant walked by and said, jokingly, "Ellie, there you are, I thought you'd been seduced by that British accent of his."  
  
"Not funny." Ellie said, with a smile, she loved teasing Alan whenever he made one of those kinds of cracks.  
  
"May I have this dance, milady?" Grant asked, with a mock British accent.  
  
"But of course." Ellie said, "Lose the corny accent Alan."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"May I have this dance?" Hal asked Ivy.  
  
Ivy turned around and her heart jumped and skipped a beat. "Yes."  
  
Hal put his right arm around her waist and held her right hand with his left as the next song began to play. It was Chris DeBurgh's Lady in Red. The moment they started to dance across the floor, it felt like they were the only two people on the dance floor.  
  
I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight.  
  
I've never seen you shine so bright.  
  
I've never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance.  
  
They're looking for a little romance, given half a chance.  
  
I have never seen that dress you're wearing.  
  
Or the highlights in your head that catch your eyes I have been blind.  
  
The lady in red is dancing with me cheek to cheek.  
  
There's nobody here, it's just you and me, It's where I wanna be.  
  
But I hardly know this beauty by my side.  
  
I'll never forget, the way you look tonight.  
  
Hal looked into Ivy's eyes. They shone in the dim lighting of the room and their rich shade of brown reminded him of another pair of eyes that had that same quality.  
  
'I can't hurt her like this' Hal thought, 'It just isn't fair for me to be comparing her to Diane every time I see her. This is such a mess.'  
  
Hal led her on another step backwards, rocking from side to side and then stepped left. He decided he wasn't going to say a damn thing about work right now. He was just going to enjoy the moment, "You are quite a good dancer."  
  
"I guess martial arts and dancing are really similar." Ivy said, "You have to have balance, be light on your toes, and be completely flexible and ready for anything. You're not too bad yourself. Do you fancy yourself another James Bond?"  
  
"Thank you and no, I do not." Hal replied, "Those kinds of blokes are the exact sort we DON'T want in the Regiment. That's enough about work, though, I'm through talking about it for tonight."  
  
"Well what do you want to talk about?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Where did you get that interest in paleontology." Hal asked as he gently swayed with her to the notes of the song.  
  
'It's so easy to talk to her. She's an absolutely wonderful woman once you get past that hard as nails go-getter of a detective she is at work. But am I still seeing Diane's ghost in her? I'd best not get that close until I've sorted that out.' Hal thought.  
  
"I guess when I was little. I used to badger mom and dad to take me to the museum a lot when I was five." Ivy said, "And as I grew up I started collecting fossils."  
  
"Like Suhara." Hal said, referring to a picture of Zack, Ivy and Suhara he'd seen at her apartment a week ago.  
  
"Not funny." Ivy said, "Where did you get that interest in medieval history?"  
  
"I picked it up during night school. I'd always been interested in the history of Medieval Britain. I used to visit the site of an old castle, outside of the town which I lived in. I used to love whenever we'd visit any of London's medieval landmarks. One of my old mates, Digger, used to complain how my books on the subject crowded him out of the room we shared before he married." Hal replied.  
  
As they danced his right hand stayed on Ivy's waist. She had a dancer's physique, long and slim yet muscular. He lightly sniffed that scent, that light trace of lilacs combined with the strawberry scented shampoo she used was a wonderful aroma he'd forever associate with her.  
  
I've never seen you looking so gorgeous as you did tonight.  
  
I've never seen you shine so bright you were amazing.  
  
I've never seen so many people want to be there by your side.  
  
And when you turned to me and smiled, It took my breath away.  
  
I have never had such a feeling.  
  
Such a feeling of complete and utter love, as I do tonight.  
  
Neither Hal nor Ivy realized how natural dancing together seemed for them. All one of them had to do was glance at the other and they knew what was anticipated. Hal was an absolutely wonderful guy, he was so strong yet vulnerable, a complex and mysterious man she wanted to figure out.  
  
'Whatever it is that's hurting you, I hope one day you'll trust me enough to tell me.' Ivy thought.  
  
Ivy lightly fingered a small scar behind Hal's left ear, "Where did you get that one?"  
  
"I got that in Israel two years ago, when I got deployed there. A Lebanese rocket attack hit near the compound where we were staying. I got nicked by a fragment from it." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy lightly caressed the wound with her fingers. The very touch of those fingers felt electric to Hal. Neither of them realized they were being judged at this particular dance and that the best couple after this song would receive a trophy and the price for their hotel room(s) reimbursed.  
  
Ivy returned her hand to Hal's shoulder. She could feel his physical strength in it. He definitely still had a boxer's physique, compact yet muscular but not in a bulked up Schwarzenagger sort of way. It was his eyes that were his defining feature, though, small and black, radiating his emotions, whatever they were. They could be piercing when he was angry, as last week when they were taking on Spyde, or they could be warm and welcoming, as they were tonight.  
  
The way you look tonight.  
  
I never will forget, the way you look tonight.  
  
The lady in red.  
  
The lady in red.  
  
The lady in red.  
  
My lady in red (I love you.).  
  
The song ended when John Hammond said, from the microphone, "I'm happy to announce the couple that won tonight's dance contest. That couple is Harold Olden and Ivy Darren. The prize is yours."  
  
Amidst applause, for many couples watched them dance and noticed how natural and elegant it seemed for them, they walked up and received a trophy that had a small figure of a dancing couple atop it.  
  
As they walked back to the hotel Hal remarked, "That was fun."  
  
"You majored in literature by correspondence course and night school and you can't say more than that?" Ivy joked, "I guess that degree's a waste then."  
  
"Bollocks." Hal replied, "I guess you've caught me at a loss for words."  
  
As they reached Ivy's hotel room, she said, "I had a good time Hal."  
  
"The pleasure was all mine." Hal replied. Ivy leaned towards him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Hal hugged her with warmth and affection and Ivy returned it. He was very tempted to return that kiss on her lips, but held back.  
  
"Well I'd best get some rest, good night." Hal replied.  
  
"Meet me tomorrow at breakfast, we'll compare notes then." Ivy said, not wanting to spoil the moment.  
  
"I'll be on time." Hal replied.  
  
"You'd better be." Ivy replied, smiling back. She walked into her hotel room, hung up her dress and threw on her blue night shirt and went to bed.  
  
'I was sure Hal was about to kiss me senseless. What stopped him? I know if he had I definitely wouldn't be sleeping alone tonight.....' Ivy thought as she turned out the lamp and tucked herself in to get some sleep.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
'That went well.' Hal thought, 'I'm as shaky as a teenager after a good date at the Winter Formal. It was a nice evening, Ivy's just a friend and.....Since when have I had a friend that could rivet my attention like that? That's easy, Diane.'  
  
Hal threw off his shirt, tie and jacket and after throwing his trousers off he put on a pair of sweat pants and left the wife beater he had on for the night where it was.  
  
'I was tempted to kiss her senseless and if it wound up with us sharing that room for the night I'm sure I'd have a regret or two in the morning because I'd feel like I was using her.' Hal thought, 'Bloody hell, I'll sort this out in the morning.'  
  
Hal took his dog tags off, placing them on the bedside table and pulled his blanket over himself and turned the lamp out as he fell asleep.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC  
  
AN - Hal's not gonna grieve that long. Considering he lost Diane not even a year ago, he's still in mourning because he loved her. The fact that Ivy looks just like her is an unexpected hardship in the healing process.... 


	17. Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 6

Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 6  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
15 May 2000: "Hal, what did you find out?" Ivy asked as they sat across from each other at breakfast. They'd picked the continental breakfast in the hotel, which was actually quite good.  
  
"I found out there have been raptor escapes. The most recent one causing Armando's brother's accident." Hal replied, "I got an e-mail of some pictures of the injuries from Armando last night."  
  
"It's pretty clear Ludlow's deceiving Mr. Hammond. The poor man had no idea that two of his employees were killed by a raptor escape." Ivy said.  
  
"Motive?" Hal asked.  
  
"Greed, what else." Ivy said, taking a bite of her waffle.  
  
"Certainly is strong enough a motive." Hal replied, sipping some of his coffee. He didn't want to bring what Muldoon had told him into it just yet, but he knew he'd eventually have to.  
  
"The trouble is, how is Ludlow keeping all the employees who were there from talking?" Ivy said.  
  
"Conspirators and co-conspirators no doubt." Hal said, "So I'd be very careful who we either tell or mention our findings too."  
  
"Hal, there are thousands of employees employed here. Are you saying that..." Ivy said.  
  
"Yes, in fact I am saying that we'd best step lightly." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"What did you tell him?" Ludlow asked Muldoon.  
  
"I stuck to the cover story. He quit asking questions afterward." Muldoon said, in reply.  
  
"Good." Ludlow said, "Now remember, you don't want your involvement in a mercenary massacre in the Congo to get to the ears of my uncle. He'll turn you over to authorities down there in a heartbeat, after you're fired. And you know how vicious and vengeful they are down there."  
  
"All too well Mr. Ludlow." Muldoon said.  
  
"This conversation never happened. You're dismissed." Ludlow said. Muldoon walked out of the office.  
  
Ludlow knew that another employee, Denis Nedry, the lead programmer, was quite disgruntled with InGen and was planning on stealing the viable embryos for every species of dinosaur (about fifteen in all) and selling them to the Biosyn corporation in Cupertino, California. Whether or not he succeeded he'd worry about later, and if need be he'd take Nedry out himself. The two ACME detectives, despite Muldoon's reassurances, were too close. He'd have to take them out as well.  
  
He knew all about Nedry's plans to sabotage the computer and security systems. Nedry would be the perfect pasty to pin the deaths of two ACME detectives on. His dear Uncle John would lose control of InGen through some persuasion of the board of directors after a disaster on the Isla Nublar facility. And who but Peter Ludlow would be left holding the reins, becoming the man who saved Jurassic Park and saved InGen from bankruptcy. He knew that Ivy Darren was taking the River Cruise and that Hal Olden was taking the ground tour. From his observations of Denis Nedry, he knew that his plan was to come into effect at around five thirty that afternoon. From his office, he could see one of the detectives was already in the control room and through the security camera he could see the other was in the Visitor's Center.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Through the security cameras and motion sensor tracking system we can keep track of every animal and every person in the park." Ray Arnold said, proudly. "That's why you wore those little wrist bands on the tour. They contain a tiny trace system for every individual visitor. If need be we can track every single person and animal on this island individually."  
  
'Zack this would be right up your alley.' Ivy thought to herself then said, "How often does the system erase archived footage?"  
  
"Every seventy-two hours. We have backup tapes in the basement as well. How far back are you wanting to see?" Ray Arnold said.  
  
"The raptor containment area, two days ago." Ivy said in reply.  
  
Ray Arnold showed the video and what Ivy saw were three workers falling when an earth mover struck the scaffolding they were working atop. She could see two of them fall and hit the concrete floor and the third hit the dirt to its right and get run over by the earthmover. This was suspicious, because if what Muldoon said was true, someone had switched the footage around or doctored it up.  
  
"Mr. Arnold, could I have a copy of that?" Ivy asked.  
  
Arnold copied the footage and gave it to Ivy who went off to the Visitor's Center. Peter Ludlow came in and put a hand on Ray's shoulder and said, "Can I talk to you for a moment, Ray?"  
  
"What did you tell them?" Ludlow said when Ray walked into his office.  
  
"I showed them that footage you switched in." Arnold replied.  
  
"Good." Ludlow said, "Because you know you don't want my uncle finding out about your compulsive gambling problem. Don't act so surprised, Ray."  
  
Ludlow referred to the surprised look on Arnold's face, "Ever since that divorce a few years back you've been throwing your paycheck away on drinks, prostitutes and gambling. Who do you think pays off your debts? Now you wouldn't want the source of payment for those debts going away, would you?"  
  
"No, I wouldn't." Ludlow replied, "Are you sure that ACME won't figure out that the footage is altered?"  
  
"It was genuine enough to fool FBI inspectors in Quantico." Arnold said, "I'm sure they can't."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"What did you find?" Hal asked.  
  
"The security tapes match Ludlow's story and what Hammond knows." Ivy said, disappointed.  
  
"You honestly think he didn't cover his tracks?" Hal said.  
  
"I know he did, but I know someone who can spot faked video footage a mile away. I sent Crimelab a copy of that tape by e-mail earlier." Ivy replied.  
  
Hal had a manila envelope under his arm that Muldoon had given to him. "These are from a camera owned by a doctor at a hospital on the mainland." Hal replied.  
  
He opened the envelope and the pictures inside showed a young man, in his late teens. A large tearing laceration ran from his left shoulder down to his lower back. Another showed the boy's left leg was torn open, revealing the pulse of the femoral artery. The next snapshot showed there were small cuts and bruises on the boy's hands, he'd put his hands in front of his face to protect himself. Defense injuries.  
  
"He was definitely attacked." Ivy said, "Those kinds of wounds...."  
  
"Only occur if someone were trying to ward off a blow of some kind." Hal replied.  
  
"I'm gonna get another look at that Raptor Containment Area this afternoon when I take the River Cruise." Ivy said.  
  
"Be careful." Hal replied, "I'm gonna see if I can get any information from Malcolm and Grant when they take the ground tour, I'm sure if there have been previous accidents they've heard of them."  
  
"I can say the same for you." Ivy said, "Be careful, we don't know who's on our side on this one."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal climbed aboard the Explorer with Malcolm and Grant. In the car in front of them were the lawyer, Donald Gennaro, and Hammond's teenaged grandkids. As the tour progressed they passed a fenced in area, the sign reading Allosaurus.  
  
"Allosaurus, the Other Lizard. A Jurassic carnivore standing eight meters tall with a ten-meter long body, it is surprisingly quick and agile for its size. We have four of these animals in Jurassic Park. Allosaurus is a very persistent hunter, often pursuing its prey through almost all obstacles." Richard Kiley's recorded voice sounded.  
  
Hal could see one of the four creatures moving through the foliage, eyeing the Explorer and its occupants menacingly. Its elongated head had a mouth bristling with teeth and its short forearms bore sharp three clawed fingers on each hand. It followed the Explorers as they drove off towards the next attraction. Hal felt a distinct sense of dread, staring at the creature in the pen. If even ONE of the Allosaurus got free it seemed that they would be in for some major dramas.  
  
His thoughts shifted unexpectedly to Ivy when they were driving by the Gallimimus paddock. 'Last night, it's a night I'll always treasure.' Hal thought, 'I mean she's beautiful, intelligent, can hold her own against you in a fight. Why the hell then are you so reluctant to try? You still grieve for Diane. It just wouldn't be fair to use a girl like Ivy as a rebound like that.'  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
On the River Cruise, Ivy was having similar thoughts. 'Last night, it's one I'm never gonna forget if I live to a hundred years.' Ivy thought, 'Why didn't I act a little more forward with Hal, I've had no trouble before? Easy answers. One I work with Hal on a daily basis. How could we talk to each other without one of us remembering lying in each other's arms? Two, you saw that he's grieving in his eyes, that would be taking advantage of him and you don't want to hurt him.'  
  
"So Ivy, what did you and Hal wind up doing last night?" Lex asked, "C'mon, I want details."  
  
"We didn't do anything, if that's what you mean. He didn't spend the night and morning in my room." Ivy replied, semi-defensively.  
  
"He left you before you woke?" Lex asked.  
  
"Lex!" Ellie sputtered, shocked, "Did he? If he did I'll...."  
  
"No, we didn't sleep together at all." Ivy replied, "He walked me back to my room, like a perfect gentleman, we made some small talk and then we both turned in for the night."  
  
'Though part of me wishes he'd done a little more than that, but I don't want to rush him. Just what is bothering him?' Ivy thought.  
  
Her cell phone rang just then, "Darren."  
  
"Oh, hi Zack." Ivy began, "Really, the video was faked."  
  
"Yes Ivy, it was a real hard fake to spot too. I'm not gonna bore you with the details, but let's just say I can conclusively prove in a court of law that the video footage was faked." Zack replied.  
  
"That's great. I'll go let Hal know about that." Ivy replied.  
  
"So where is he?" Zack said.  
  
"He's taking the other tour." Ivy replied, "How's physical therapy going."  
  
"I hope it finishes, I mean I'm ready to get out of the hospital before the stick me to death or starve me to death." Zack replied.  
  
Ivy laughed lightly and said, "I think we can all agree, hospital food isn't food."  
  
"Well, sis, gotta run, Josha's bringing me more stuff from Crimelab." Zack replied.  
  
"They're making you work?" Ivy asked.  
  
"No, I asked Josha to bring me some stuff to analyze and look at. I'm going bored just lying in bed watching TV all day." Zack replied.  
  
"OK little bro, I'll let you get some rest." Ivy replied.  
  
"Bye sis, see you in a few days." Zack replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The sky started to darken with black storm clouds on the horizon. Denis Nedry, monitoring this on a nearby screen knew he had to execute his plan. He sent a program into the main computer that turned off the security systems, phones, and fences. He then made his way to the genetics lab, deserted because most of the staff that worked the lab was gone. He had stolen fifteen embryos, one point five million dollars worth of material and jumped into a jeep, racing off through the park.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"What the hell?" Grant said as the Explorer came to a stop in front of the Tyrannosaur paddock.  
  
Outside in the rain a goat tethered near the fence started bleating. "What's going on?" Hal said, awakening from a doze.  
  
"We stopped." Grant said, "Power must be out."  
  
"You're right, the computer in the car isn't working." Malcolm replied.  
  
Hal's cell phone rang just then, "Olden."  
  
"Hal, it's Ivy. What's going on? I've no idea."  
  
"I've got no idea, either." Hal replied, "Near as I can tell this storm caused a blackout of some sort."  
  
"Where are you?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Outside the Tyrannosaur paddock." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ivy felt a stab of dread. Hal had said his position was outside of the Tyrannosaur paddock. One of the most deadly predators to roam the planet, and Hal was right in its kill zone.  
  
She wasn't that much better off. The tour boat had stopped in the Hadrosaur lagoon, but to her right was the Raptor Containment Area. And if those things got loose....  
  
Ivy didn't want to even think about the carnage five raptors loose in the park amongst thousands of visitors could cause. It gave her a cold sweat just thinking about it.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Where's the goat?" Gennaro asked, he had been idly staring at the pen for the last ten minutes and noticed the goat was missing.  
  
Suddenly a leg of the goat fell atop the roof of the Explorer. "Oh Jesus! Oh Jesus! Oh God! Oh God!" Gennaro moaned like a mantra, running for the bathroom across the road.  
  
The Tyrannosaurus put its forearm on the fence and feeling no shock it started to tear the fence down. It roared at both vehicles.  
  
"Keep absolutely still, his vision's based on movement." Grant said.  
  
It looked into the car just then and the three men inside stayed still. Hal looked right into the ancient yellow eye of the Rex as it stared into the vehicle, butting it lightly with its head. He could see an absolute and total confidence in its abilities as it looked at the three humans inside the vehicle. Suddenly the Rex turned towards the first car and started to attack it. First it crushed the skylight down then kicked it over and started attacking the chassis.  
  
Grant grabbed a flare and lit it up. "Hey! Hey!"  
  
The Rex was mesmerized by the light and started to follow it when Grant tossed it into the pen. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" Malcolm shouted, running out of the car with another flare.  
  
"Ian! Freeze! Get rid of the flare!" Grant shouted.  
  
"Hal! Get Tim out of the car!" Ian shouted.  
  
Hal ran towards the wreckage of the first car and was halfway over when a blow from the Tyrannosaur's tail launched him over the fence. Hal remembered his training with the British Airborne and flexed his knees and prepared to execute a shoulder roll. He hit the ground hard and felt dazed enough to black out.  
  
Before he did he could hear Gennaro screaming as the thatch hut that hid him came down around his ears and the Tyrannosaur gulped him down. Gennaro was dead, Malcolm too. Grant and Tim were probably next. 'Bloody hell. What a mess.' Hal thought before he blacked out.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
A baby hadrosaur moved out of her sheltered little cove to get a closer look at the curious intruder that had been sitting still for the past half- hour. It's mother reared up and charged, after all the boat could be a possible predator. The boat was knocked off track with enough force to send it drifting through the strong current that led into the raptor containment area. The boat struck the gate with enough force to open it and cause a short circuit in the fences in the area.  
  
Ivy could see the raptors were still in their pen, and concluded that it must have its own backup power source. Which was a good thing, considering that....  
  
Just then she could see a powerful, six foot animal chewing its way though the fence. And it was then that she was grateful the canal to the raptor containment had such a swift current. It pushed them into a boat shed, a large, dark concrete structure because all the lights were out. There were dozens of tour boats like theirs down for maintenance inside. Outside the shed she could hear screams and gunfire as the guards fought for their lives only to be mercilessly cut down.  
  
She could hear the sound of concrete buckling just then, in front of her. She knew that the shed was atop a waterfall because there was a channel for the flowing water in the wall in front of her. The concrete snapped open, revealing the head of an Allosaurus.  
  
The guests in the boat collectively screamed as the dinosaur's head poked in and seized one fellow up and messily devoured him. The boat, no longer having the wall blocking its progress down the falls, continued on her merry way. Ivy braced herself for the impact and felt a jolt as the boat hit the pool at the bottom of the fall and she blacked out....  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	18. Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 7

Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 7  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
15 May 2000: Hal opened his eyes to find himself surrounded entirely by shining white. It was as if he was in heaven right now, or some close approximation of it. It was just like his dream earlier. "Hal, wake up." A voice said.  
  
"Diane?" Hal said, turning and facing her, "I must be dead, because only the dead can see the dead."  
  
"You came very close. But you're not. Wake up now, people need you to wake up." Diane said.  
  
Harold Olden's eyes fluttered open and he found out he was lying on his left side. His ribs felt sore, but they weren't broken, he could tell. They were severely bruised, though. He stood up, shakily and saw Alan Grant and Tim Murphy standing over him.  
  
"Welcome back to the land of the living. The T-Rex is still on the loose." Grant said.  
  
"Shouldn't we stick around for rescue?" Hal replied.  
  
"Bad idea, the Rex is still in the area and we're in the heart of his territory." Grant replied.  
  
"Right." Hal replied, "Where are we heading?"  
  
"Visitor's Center." Grant said.  
  
"If we keep tabbing we can reach it by dawn." Hal replied.  
  
"You do that, but I think we should get some rest." Grant said, "Not all of us are SAS operatives."  
  
"Good point, but I think we'd best get out of the T-Rex paddock before we're dessert....." Hal replied.  
  
"Good idea." Grant said as he heard the T-Rex roaring in the distance.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ivy's eyes fluttered open and she looked up to see the Allosaurus still loitering around the pool looking for any people that had survived the wreck. As far as she could tell, she wasn't injured. She could see the Allosaurus stick its head into the water, as if it were bobbing for apples. Silently she swam to the edge of the pool and ran smack into Ellie Sattler and Lex Murphy who motioned her to a stand of brush.  
  
Aware they could do nothing to help the survivors with the Allosaurus, the three women crawled through an access tunnel towards the Visitor's Center and the control room and what they hoped was safety.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"What the hell? What the hell? What the hell?" Arnold said.  
  
"Ray?" Hammond asked.  
  
"Fences are failing all around the park." Arnold said. As he was about to make the report the alarm sounded.  
  
"The Raptor Containment Area's been breeched!" Muldoon shouted.  
  
"Raptors loose in the park!" Arnold said.  
  
"Add in reports that the T-Rex has escaped, the Allosaurus have broken from their pen and one of the tour boats has disappeared to that." Muldoon added.  
  
It was to this chaotic scene that Ivy, Ellie and Lex walked in. "Robert, I wonder if you would be kind enough to take a gas jeep and bring back my grandson?" Hammond said.  
  
"Sure." Muldoon replied.  
  
"I'm going with him." Ivy said.  
  
"Count me in." Ellie replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Muldoon pulled the gas jeep up to the Tyrannosaur paddock. He could see one of the two Explorers was in tact, but the other was missing. "Alan!" Ellie shouted into the night.  
  
"Dr. Grant!" Muldoon shouted.  
  
"Hal!" Ivy shouted.  
  
"Lieutenant Olden!" Muldoon shouted.  
  
"I think this was Gennaro." Muldoon said, indicating a leg ripped off just below the kneecap.  
  
"I think this was too." Ellie said.  
  
"Unnnggghhh." Came a pained moan from under some thatching.  
  
Ellie aimed her flashlight at the source, "He put a tourniquet on. Ian? Ian?"  
  
"Remind me to thank John for a lovely weekend." Malcolm groaned.  
  
"Should we chance moving him?" Ellie said.  
  
A distant roar sounded just then. "Please chance it." Malcolm said.  
  
"Ivy, c'mon!" Muldoon urged.  
  
"The other car!" Ivy shouted.  
  
"Alan!" Ellie shouted.  
  
As the trio climbed into the paddock they saw three sets of footprints leading into the park, "Two adult footprints, we can rule out Malcolm and Gennaro for obvious reasons. It seems Lt. Olden and Dr. Grant are still alive." Muldoon said, "And Tim Murphy."  
  
As they made their way up to the jeep Malcolm urged, "Let's go! We've gotta get outta here! We've gotta get outta here!!!"  
  
The T-Rex roared as it appeared behind the jeep on the road. Muldoon floored the accelerator as Malcolm said, "Must go faster!"  
  
"Shift! Shift!" Ellie shouted.  
  
"Look out!" Ivy shouted as a fallen tree partially blocked the road.  
  
"Down!" Muldoon shouted and the glass shattered as the windscreen came apart.  
  
The Tyrannosaur's jaws closed on the passenger side mirror, narrowly missing Ellie's right arm. She backed away, screaming in horror. She shoved Malcolm onto the stick shift in the process.  
  
"Get off the stick! Bloody move!" Muldoon shouted. Malcolm complied and Muldoon put the car in gear, managing to outrun the Rex.  
  
"Think they'll have that on the tour?" Malcolm asked.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"This is a good spot." Hal said, he had gone ahead of Grant and Tim and updated them with best routes and distances to the Visitor's Center.  
  
"How far are we?" Grant asked.  
  
"Roughly two miles." Hal replied, "Due west of us there's an open field, good way to cover ground but we're shit out of luck if the Rex or any other carnivores catch us out there."  
  
"We'll have to take that chance." Grant said, "We gotta get to the Visitor's Center and see if we can't sort this out."  
  
"We've been tabbing for a few hours now, notice the power hasn't come back on?" Hal asked.  
  
"You're right." Tim replied, "But why? Shouldn't they have sent guys to fix it?"  
  
"They're trying to contain the animals first. If I venture a guess the Rex, the Allosaurus, and God forbid the raptors are all loose in the park." Hal replied.  
  
"We'll worry about that tomorrow." Grant replied.  
  
"Right." Hal replied as they climbed a tree and as they got to a safe enough height they fell asleep.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Who better to get my grandson through the park than a dinosaur expert and an SAS officer?" John Hammond said.  
  
Ivy was especially worried about Hal. 'Please God, let him be alright.' Ivy silently prayed.  
  
Hammond was saying something about shutting down the system to erase everything Nedry did and the system would start up in its original startup mode. Arnold had volunteered to go to the circuit breakers and reset everything.  
  
It was just then that Muldoon said, "We'd best get to the emergency bunker system until this blows over."  
  
Ludlow knew there was nothing more he could do at this point. He had to act whenever the opportunity arose. Short of actually killing them by his own hand he could do nothing. He just hoped marauding dinosaurs would be enough to do the job. Maybe if he put Ivy at risk he could kill two birds with one stone. He knew that by the way Hal looked at her he would literally risk life and limb for her.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
16 May 2000: "The visitor's center should be just over the ridge, about a mile away." Hal said, they had started travelling through a path through the Brachiosaurus pen at daybreak.  
  
"Life found a way." Grant said, holding up an eggshell.  
  
"What?" Hal said.  
  
"The dinosaurs. If you'll remember the tour, Dr. Wu said that the dinosaurs couldn't breed because they're all female." Grant replied, "Anyway, some West African frogs have been known to spontaneously change sex from male to female in a single sex environment."  
  
"That's right. Amphibian DNA to fill in gene sequence gaps." Hal replied.  
  
They continued on and climbed over the electrified fence into the Visitor's Center compound. It was strangely quiet. "Grant, get Tim to the emergency bunkers." Hal replied, picking up an M-16 assault rifle from a dead guard lying outside the Visitor's Center. He also grabbed his ammunition and tactical radio.  
  
"What are you doing?" Grant said.  
  
"I've got to look for any lost civilians. Like it or not, I'm still a soldier and its my duty to defend civilians in times of crisis. I'm on channel two." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hello, anyone, this is Hal Olden, Royal Marines...."  
  
Ivy grabbed the nearest radio handset and said, "Hal? Where are you?"  
  
"I'm just outside the Visitor's Center." Hal replied.  
  
"What are you doing?" Ivy asked.  
  
"I'm sweeping the compound for any living civilians." Hal replied, "I'll get them into the bunkers."  
  
"Be careful." Ivy said, sounding worried.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"I will be." Hal replied. Ivy sounded worried over the other end of the line, but it was something he'd have to worry about later.  
  
He'd made sure the guard's weapon worked properly and that the magazines were in working order. He was still a Royal Marine and he had a duty to rescue these civilians. He was going to start with the Visitor's Center first.  
  
Hal could see that the guards were caught by surprise because in one back corridor he saw the remains of five dead guards and bullet holes in every surface. Several lights had been shot out and at least one grenade had been thrown. He could see the body of a velociraptor, shot full of holes lying some distance away.  
  
All right that was one less raptor to worry about. There were still four more at large, though, and Hal knew he had to deal with them eventually. What he and the other humans on Jurassic Park didn't know was that the number of dinosaurs in the park, particularly raptors, was higher than projected. It turned out that there were wild raptors nesting at various places around the island. These wild raptors tended not to bother the tourists, because of the fact the fences were up, but now those fences were down, the raptors were starting to appear in large numbers.  
  
Hal felt sick when he saw the body of a portly young man. His stomach and ribs had been hacked open, revealing a lot of lacerated viscera. Raptors were obviously on the loose in the complex.  
  
He could hear the sound of a raptor crashing against a door down the hall. Hal ran down and saw a raptor crashing its powerful six-foot body against a door that was obviously barricaded and about to give way. Hal dropped to one knee, took aim and squeezed the trigger, dropping the raptor with three shots fired off in rapid succession.  
  
He opened the door to find two of the resident lab techs and three tourists hiding in a specimen room. One of them was the older man from the River Cruise, "C'mon, I'll get you to the emergency bunker."  
  
Hal moved with the skill of a highly trained and experienced soldier. "Quite good for one who tests Land Rovers for a living." The older man said.  
  
"I spent a term with the Royal Marines." Hal said, telling a half-truth, not really wanting to reveal his Special Forces background to just anyone.  
  
He crossed the hallway quickly and covering the area with his weapon he motioned with his right arm that it was safe to cross. The five people followed his advice, running and Hal made sure that their backs were covered. They had managed to make it into the bunker.  
  
"Hal!" Ivy shouted, throwing her arms around his neck. Hal returned her hug with one of his own, relieved immensely that Ivy was alright.  
  
"John's got a plan to get these people out of here." Ivy said.  
  
"Dr. Grant, you and Muldoon head for the power station and get the power back on." Hammond said, "Ellie, Ivy go to the control room and reboot the computer system."  
  
"I'll keep looking for survivors." Hal said.  
  
"Hal?" Ivy began.  
  
"I'm better on my own." Hal said, grimly, and stuffed extra magazines into the belt pouches of the dead guard's belt kit he had filched. He also took a couple flash grenades and put them on.  
  
"Be careful." Ivy said, "We'll get to the control room and track down any survivors we see in the area."  
  
"I will be." Hal replied, the M-16 and belt kit incongruous against his blue checkered collared shirt and jeans and sneakers. He adjusted the radio headset and said, "I'm on Channel Two."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Alan Grant and Robert Muldoon crept silently through the jungle. Muldoon carried a shotgun he had taken from the armaments cabinet in the bunker. "The shed's right there, we can make it if we run." Grant said.  
  
"No, we can't...." Muldoon replied, "Because we're being hunted, from the bushes straight ahead. It's alright, I've got her, run. Now!"  
  
Muldoon crept off into the jungle after the velociraptor as Grant sprinted down the trail towards the maintenance shed.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Inside the emergency bunker, Peter Ludlow put his wrist mounted tracking tag down and crept out of the shed. He knew that now he had to get rid of two pesky ACME detectives, and fast. Out of the two, he knew the woman, Ivy, was unarmed and that she would be the best choice of victim.  
  
He stopped off at the genetics lab, grabbing a syringe full of a pale blue liquid. It was a deadly toxin that Dr. Wu had inadvertently discovered years ago. He grabbed the syringe and headed off to the control room.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hal, there's three more survivors in the west wing of the hotel." Ivy said.  
  
"Right, on my way." Hal replied.  
  
Ellie heard the sound of a flash grenade going off and gunfire from the hotel over the radio. "Are you alright?" Ellie asked.  
  
"Just fine." Hal replied, "I just ran into a few of our old friends, the velociraptors."  
  
Neither woman was aware that Peter Ludlow was creeping closer to them to remove the problem of two pesky ACME detectives....  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	19. Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 8

Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 8  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before....I invented part of Ivy's past in this chapter.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
16 May 2000: "Alright, I'm in. Now what do I do?" Grant said.  
  
"Follow the overhead piping." Hammond replied.  
  
Grant complied and found himself at a dead end. "Where am I supposed to go now?"  
  
"There should have been a left turn back there. A small metal staircase, go down it." Hammond said.  
  
As Grant moved deeper into the power station he heard another voice over his radio headset, "Grant."  
  
"Grant, this is Hal. I was wondering, is there any danger from the Gallimimus?" Hal asked.  
  
"No, there shouldn't be, unless they stampede? Why?" Grant said.  
  
"Because there's about a herd of them in the Cretaceous Courtyard. I can see seven people in the building across from them." Hal replied, "What does it take to get them to stampede?"  
  
"Predators, usually." Grant replied.  
  
"Is it safe to go through them?" Hal asked.  
  
"As long as you don't make any sudden movements it should be safe." Grant said.  
  
"Should be?" Hal said.  
  
"They've been extinct for millions of years, I only know theory, not fact." Grant replied.  
  
"Bloody hell." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal tiptoed through the Gallimimus herd, quietly as possible. He was aware that if he made any sudden moves they'd stampede in a heartbeat. Just then he felt an impact tremor of something very large, walking. From out of the tree line burst an Allosaurus.  
  
"Son of a bitch!" Hal growled and took cover in a nearby fountain.  
  
The Gallimimus immediately stampeded with the Allosaur chasing them. Even though Allosaurus wasn't as large as the T-Rex it was still big enough to worry about. Hal reached for one of the flash grenades, if he had to, he'd throw it to disorient the Allosaurus if it got too close.  
  
He heard an awful animal squealing as one of the Gallimimus fell afoul of the Allosaurus. He kept low, he figured just because the Allosaurus had just eaten it's main course of Gallimimus didn't mean it didn't also want a side dish of Harold Olden. Silently he crept along the outer periphery of the Allosaurus' vision, though he wanted to run as fast as he could. He knew the dinosaur could close the distance in less than a stride the moment it spotted him.  
  
Managing to make it into the hotel and to the frightened tourists and workers he knew a back way out of the hotel through the jungle. He then knew the best route was through the jungle, at least the Allosaurus couldn't follow him without its crashing through the brush alerting him a mile away.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The raptor was making its way deeper into the jungle, and so was Muldoon. The dinosaur stopped suddenly and Muldoon extended the folding stock of his weapon and took aim. Just then the head of a second raptor appeared just inches from his face.  
  
"Clever girl....." Muldoon thought and turned around to try and face this new threat when the raptor leaped from the bush and landed squarely on top of him. He knew it was all over when the raptor had his head in its jaws. The last thing he expected to hear when the raptor had his head in its jaws was gunfire.  
  
"Are you alright?" Hal asked after he pulled the raptor's inert mass off Muldoon.  
  
"Minor injuries, I think I'll make it." Muldoon said.  
  
"Get these people back to the emergency bunker. I'm going to do a final check of the Visitor's Center." Hal replied.  
  
"Hal, did you get every one?" Ivy asked over the radio. Thanks to her help, she had guided him past dangerous areas and to survivors.  
  
"I did. I'm gonna do one final Visitor's Center sweep. I've got a feeling something's amiss." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Very astute of him." Peter Ludlow said. Ellie was lying face down on the floor, knocked out by a blow to the head.  
  
"I won't bore you with details, but this syringe is full of one of the more potent toxins Dr. Wu inadvertently discovered. Sufficient to say it will stop your heart within thirty seconds of it entering your blood stream." Ludlow said, taking her by the arm and putting the needle to Ivy's neck.  
  
As Ludlow led her away, Ivy could hear Hal over the radio, "Ivy, are you alright? I heard some commotion in there...."  
  
"Blast, our friend Hal is still alive." Ludlow said, "No problem, I'll deal with you first and then make sure he's out of the picture. Your bodies I'll then dispose of by way of the dinosaurs and I'll take control of InGen from Uncle John by means of his incompetence in this disaster...."  
  
Ivy knew that if she tried anything the needle would go into her jugular vein and within thirty seconds she would be dead. It seemed Ludlow had no intention of letting her live. For a little corporate bastard he was incredibly strong though.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Ivy?" Hal shouted, running into the control room and finding Ellie Sattler on the floor. He checked her pulse, she was still alive, good thing.  
  
Ellie moaned and tried to sit up. Hal leaned her against the wall, "Ludlow."  
  
"He did this?" Hal asked. Ellie nodded.  
  
"Where did he take her?" Hal asked.  
  
"I don't know." Ellie said.  
  
"Can you get yourself to the emergency bunker?" Hal asked.  
  
"No," Ellie said, groggily, "But someone has to call the mainland, we have to get these people out of here."  
  
"Right." Hal replied, "Muldoon, can you get to the control room?"  
  
Over the radio came Muldoon's voice, "Sure."  
  
"Get over here, pronto. I've got a partner to save." Hal replied.  
  
"Go get her." Ellie said, "And give Ludlow my regards."  
  
"Don't worry he's got plenty to go around." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Well, all I have to do is wait for that partner of yours." Ludlow said. They were standing in the boat shed, where several small boats were docked, Ludlow still having the poisoned needle to Ivy's neck.  
  
He had already bound Ivy's wrists with electrical tape behind her back and had his other arm around her waist, holding her towards him. Ivy blinked her eyes, feeling a mix of emotions. Largely fear of impending death. But what was she afraid of, exactly? Was it leaving behind her family and friends? Never seeing that new nephew or niece she was due to have? Or was it not seeing where this partnership and developing friendship with Hal was set to head? Truthfully it was all four.  
  
Ivy knew her job had certain risks. Death was one of them. That didn't mean she didn't have her misgivings and fears about it. With a poisoned needle held to her neck, she didn't have a way out of this situation that she could think of. If she struck Ludlow in any way, he'd inject the poison and she'd die within thirty seconds.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal knew that Ludlow wasn't in the Visitor's Center. He had to have a way off the island, but how? He had a sudden flash of insight just then. Boats, there were dozens of them on the island. Therefore he must be at the boathouse.  
  
It was more than just insight. It was something else. Almost like a weird sixth sense, it took him a moment to feel like he was inside Ivy's head for a moment. He could feel a smattering of barely controlled fear together with a single message, 'Go to the boat house.'  
  
The existence of a sixth sense, ESP, or any other stuff of that nature was all clearly secondary right now as Hal ran for the boathouse. Even if he were wrong and that sixth sense feeling was clearly just an effect of his worry about Ivy's safety, he figured it was worth a look.  
  
He made it to the boathouse without incident and kicked the door down. He could see Ludlow standing near the dock. He held Ivy around the waist with a needle full of some pale blue liquid to her neck.  
  
"Drop the gun!" Ludlow shouted, "Or prepare to watch me inject this toxin into your partner. Watch her die in thirty seconds."  
  
"You're bluffing Peter. You're not a murderer." Hal replied.  
  
"If I need to kill both of you to erase all the evidence of my crimes, I will. Cooperate and I won't kill you." Ludlow said.  
  
"Hal! He's lying!" Ivy shouted.  
  
"Damned if I do, damned if I don't, Ludlow, it's not much incentive." Hal replied. He could see the shape of someone or something running behind Ludlow just then. Just keep his attention focused.  
  
"I won't kill you." Ludlow said, "If you cooperate. Put down the gun or your partner dies."  
  
"Right." Hal replied, making the motion of turning the safety on his weapon and dropping to one knee to place it carefully on the deck.  
  
"You fool, you realize I had no intention of..." was all Ludlow had time to say before he fell to the ground like a pole-axed mule. Muldoon stood over him with his shotgun in his hands and bandages around his head.  
  
"How did you do that?" Hal asked.  
  
"Easy, I followed your signal from the Visitor's Center and Ellie suggested you needed some backup." Muldoon replied.  
  
"Is he dead?" Ivy asked, indicating Ludlow's sprawled form.  
  
"He'll be feeling that for a few hours." Muldoon said, dragging the knocked out Peter Ludlow over his shoulders.  
  
Hal cut the tape from Ivy's wrists and they made their way back to the emergency bunker. John Hammond said that emergency helicopters were at the field in front of the bunker. Tourists were loaded into the helicopters and they were flown safely back to the mainland.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal watched below him as they were flown back to Costa Rica. Ivy was leaning against his shoulder, and he realized just how tired he was. But first he had to ask her a question.  
  
"Ivy, how did you do that?" Hal asked.  
  
"Do what?" Ivy asked sleepily.  
  
"Tell me how to find you." Hal replied. He recounted briefly how he had some sort of sixth sense telling him exactly where to find her.  
  
"I don't know." Ivy said, "My grandmother was part Cherokee, on my mother's side, and she used to tell me all kinds of weird stories about being able to do weird things with our minds, like telepathy. Strange I didn't believe her back then, and I'm not sure I still believe her."  
  
"How would you attribute my rescue of you?" Hal replied.  
  
"You were lucky, I guess. And I was lucky you found me." Ivy replied.  
  
"That makes both of us." Hal replied. Ivy had already fallen asleep at his side and Hal leaned closer to make her more comfortable. Hal looked at Ivy, just watching her sleeping peacefully at his side. It was a few more minutes before he fell asleep.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
At the landing pad, doctors checked on the wounded patients, taking Malcolm and Ellie to the hospitals. The dead were taken account of and the living were reunited with lost family members.  
  
The older man that had talked to Hal on the River Cruise a few days ago approached, "You said you were with the Royal Marines, correct. Sir Nigel Walters, British Intelligence, are you still active duty?"  
  
"Yes sir. 1st Lieutenant Harold Olden, 22 SAS." Hal replied.  
  
"I was a commanding officer with that unit in 1982 and served a tour with the Territorial SAS." Walters replied, "I should have realized your unit when you said you tested Land Rovers for a living. I really realized your current unit when I watched you lead several batches of tourists to safety. You may just be due for an award, lieutenant."  
  
"Thank you sir." Hal replied.  
  
"Congratulations Hal." Ivy said, lightly punching him on the arm.  
  
"Thanks." Hal replied, grinning shyly, "Speaking of awards, Ninja Girl, do you want to keep the trophy we won from the contest a couple nights ago? Or do you want to keep that framed photograph of us? I mailed both home that night to keep the extra room in my bergen."  
  
"I'm not sure, Limey. But how about this: you keep the trophy this week, I'll save the picture and we swap at the next week." Ivy replied.  
  
"Settled." Hal replied.  
  
"Well, we've got a plane to San Francisco to catch in a couple hours." Ivy said.  
  
"Way ahead of you on that." Hal replied as they called a taxi cab and headed for their flight back home.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	20. Shattered Dreams and Promises

Shattered Dreams and Promises  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. These little interludes are largely for ideas of mine and usually help transition into the next case.  
  
Leonia - Thanks for your reviews. I think you'll like their upcoming case, which involves events covered in these flashbacks.  
  
C.J. Sandiego - Thanks for all the reviews. I know it must be slightly frustrating, this whole thing about Hal and Diane, but bear with that for one more case....  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
16 September 1999: The little tin building where about a dozen British SAS and SBS (Special Boat Service) troopers who formed the detachment known as F-Company were living was abuzz with the hum of electric fans and the lyrics of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville playing over a scratchy old boom box. A dozen cots covered with mosquito netting were arranged along the walls and several pieces of military kit were in sight. A television set with stacks of videos around it lay in the middle of the room.  
  
Universally British soldiers hated Belize. It was, to them, a jungle mud hole in Central America. Garrison rules were usually quite strict and there was very little to do with one's time off. The little compound in the jungle housed a battalion of soldiers, rotated every few months, this time it was a battalion of Scots Guards, men famed for their fighting skills and named The Ladies from Hell by German soldiers in World War I. It was about a mile or so ringed by wire fencing and had a small swimming pool off limits because somebody decided to defecate in it.  
  
"Mail call!" a British sergeant shouted.  
  
Eagerly, Hal sat up in his cot and grabbed his letters. One was from his mother. The other was from Diane.  
  
"Hey," Digger, one of the ex-Paras (paratroopers) in the unit asked, asked, "Is that from Diane?"  
  
Hal nodded. The other five SAS men in the room were all friends of Hal before he was commissioned as an officer. He really didn't give much thought to sirs and salutes outside the garrison and as far as he was concerned Belize was far from the garrison as one could get.  
  
"At least we could have used the pool if we were here with the last rotation." Lucas groaned from his cot.  
  
"Oi, dick 'ead! Don't blame us for that misfortune." Said one of the SBS lads in the room, "It's not our fault someone decided to shit in the pool before you wankers got here."  
  
Hal laughed as he cleaned his M-16. He, Lucas, Digger and three of the SBS guys had just returned from a four-week patrol in the jungle. They all had longish, greasy hair and weeks of beard growth with congealed sweat, dirt, mosquito repellent and camouflage paint mixed in.  
  
A flash from a camera went off in the room. "Diane's gonna love this snapshot." Jerry, one of the SBS guys, Royal Marines who were experts at small boats and amphibious raids, laughed.  
  
"Go ahead and send it wanker." Hal replied, casually, "Then I'll tell your wife that her hubby shares cot space with a teddy bear when he's on deployment."  
  
"You bloody dickhead!" Jerry replied.  
  
"Hey! Shut the door you lazy pig!" Nels Fritz, a half-German/half-British SBS trooper from Suffolk, shouted.  
  
"Oh you stupid jerk!" Lucas replied, he was on his way out to the showers.  
  
"They should use Lucas as a doorstop, his rear end's big enough." Jerry remarked.  
  
"It's so big, he'll put it in the toilet and won't be able to pull it out again." Digger laughed.  
  
"Up yours Digger!" Lucas replied, giving his mate the bird.  
  
"Hey, could you write this wanker up for sexual harassment Hal? I'm sure words from a first lieutenant carry more weight than those from a lance- corporal." Digger replied.  
  
"Why sure, Lance-Comical." Hal remarked, "You know, since they've made me a rupert I've had to deal with a lot of cracks from you of late. I'm really disliking it."  
  
"Why don't you move in with those ruperts from the battalion then? Sir?" Jerry replied.  
  
"I would but I'd go stark fucking board with those wankers around." Hal replied, "At least you keep things interesting."  
  
"Ah, quit distracting us by buttering us up? What did your ACME detective have to say?" Digger asked.  
  
"You lads never give up, do you?" Hal asked.  
  
"No, we don't." Digger replied. The state of affairs between Hal and Diane had always been something his buddies in the unit loved to mess with him about, in a friendly sort of way. Digger was no exception, he always loved to joke, 'ACME and the Regiment don't mix, mate. You'll be happy if you remember that.'  
  
"You know, I think I'll stick around to here this." Lucas said, going back into the tin shack and sitting on his cot.  
  
Hal rolled his eyes as Jerry asked, "Will someone tell me who this Diane is?"  
  
"Oh God no! Don't get this wanker talking! He'll talk about her all night!" Digger replied.  
  
"Better than hearing the side effects of dinner coming out your arse mate." Chad remarked, "You've got the worst case of gas out of anyone in the squadron."  
  
"The don't fart inside it warning they give for the NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) suits was specifically made for Digger." Hal replied.  
  
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha." Digger replied, cleaning his M203 (the M-16 with the grenade launcher attachment), and releasing yet another fart.  
  
"Augh! You wanker! Warn us before you do that shit!" Harry, another SBS soldier shouted.  
  
"One of these days Digger, one of these days, you're gonna fart, light one of your disgusting cigarettes and blast yourself to kingdom come!" Chad remarked.  
  
"Anyhow, what did Diane have to say?" Digger asked.  
  
"C'mon, if the fact she had a boyfriend when we were stationed in Tidworth made you run off and do Selection to escape the grief, she had to be somewhat important." Lucas said.  
  
"What?" Harry said.  
  
"It was a long time ago. It was about a year after Diane and I had met. Shortly after I fell in love with her, she asked me if I'd met Chris, her boyfriend." Hal replied.  
  
"That's when I said ACME and the Regiment don't mix mate." Digger said.  
  
"I wasn't in the Regiment yet wanker." Hal replied.  
  
"Ah, anyway, I like to say if you decide to involve yourself with someone from ACME, bollocks to the relationship." Digger said.  
  
"So what did she say?" Lucas asked.  
  
"She said yes." Hal said, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Wonderful mate! Wonderful!" Lucas said, genuinely happy for his friend, "It'll work out, despite Digger's gloom and doom prophesying. You two have been pretty close friends for years."  
  
"Eight if I recall correctly." Hal replied, grinning happily.  
  
"That means I get to plan the bachelor party." Digger replied.  
  
"No! That means I do!" Lucas replied.  
  
"You wankers! We're not getting married!" Hal replied, "We're just going to her parent's cabin...."  
  
"....For two weeks of sex with no strings attached." Digger remarked, imitating Diane's voice.  
  
"No you idiot!" Hal replied, laughing with Digger, "For two weeks of just us so we can talk about, well, if a relationship is possible."  
  
"Then what did she say yes to?" Jerry asked.  
  
"I said, before we left eight months ago, that I'd give her the length of my tour in Belize to think about if we could start a relationship again...." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
16 February 1999: "Diane?" Hal said, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"  
  
"Sure." Diane replied, "I was just getting ready to leave for the day."  
  
"Over dinner." Hal replied, "On me."  
  
'He can be so sweet sometimes.' Diane thought. "Sure."  
  
They made their way to the pub and sat down at a table in the corner. Hal knew damn well why his heart was in his throat at the moment. The low light levels in the room couldn't disguise what a beautiful woman Diane was. She was an inch or so shorter than Hal, with short, auburn hair that was almost brown in its color. Her eyes were a deep shade of brown, and now were like those of a doe, big and beautiful. She was slim, athletically figured. She was an avid swimmer and soccer player.  
  
'Who Dares Wins. The Regiment's motto. Remember that.' Hal thought and said, "Diane, remember how I told you I felt more for you than friendship several years ago?"  
  
"I do." Diane replied. That had been seven years earlier, where Hal had confessed to having feelings for her. He had also said that he didn't expect her to leave her boyfriend at the time because of those feelings and in fact expected the friendship to end. She could tell Hal had been heartbroken when he left to go run Selection for the Special Air Service.  
  
She felt her heart pounding in her chest then. Since that day they had remained friends but it took two years for them to fix the friendship to a point where they were willing to talk to each other again without any sort of weird feelings or discomfort. But what did Hal have to say, "I remember, Hal, but what do you want to tell me?"  
  
"Diane. Over the years we've become closer friends, despite everything else that's gotten in our way." Hal began, "What I'm trying to say is that I still have feelings for you. I tried dating other women after I told you how I felt, but it never worked out."  
  
"Hal..." Diane replied.  
  
"Wait, please." Hal replied, "I know you're not involved with anyone right now, so you don't have that to worry about. I'm also not pressuring you in any way. If you don't even want to be friends anymore, I'll understand."  
  
"Hal, this is just so sudden." Diane replied, "Even if I've always known even before you confessed about how you felt that you've felt something more than friendship for me."  
  
"I'm scared too, Diane. I'm just as scared I might ruin our friendship. I know the only thing I can offer you is my heart, to be either broken or for you. But just for argument, what if it could work? Do you think we could ever be more than friends? Do you think we could have that sort of meaningful relationship?" Hal replied.  
  
"I don't know what to say, Hal. On one hand, we're friends, and on the other you've kept these feelings secret for years. What's to prevent such secrecy from you again?" Diane replied her eyes moist.  
  
Hal reached across the table to dry her tears, "Diane that's why I wanted to talk. I don't want to keep secrets from you anymore. I'm not asking you to marry me or anything of that sort, unless you want it."  
  
"Hal, I still don't know how to answer that question." Diane said, getting up to leave, "I need some time."  
  
"Wait." Hal replied, following her outside, "Diane, I didn't say I needed an answer right this minute. I'll tell you what. I'll give you the length of my deployment to Belize to answer that question. Do you think we can have a relationship?"  
  
"I'll let you know." Diane replied, as they stood in the light underneath a London street lamp.  
  
They went back inside and had dinner, and talked like the two old friends they were. "I'll walk you to your car." Hal said, as they finished dinner.  
  
He opened the door for her and helped her into her coat. They walked again through the light of the street lamps and Hal opened her car door for her at the curbside. Under the lamplight they kissed each other, slowly and tenderly.  
  
"Hal?" Diane asked.  
  
"That was if you had any doubts as to the truth of how I feel about you." Hal replied, "My apologies if I was out of line."  
  
"No," Diane replied, "I actually liked it."  
  
Hal smiled back at her as he walked to his own vehicle and drove back to the camp, knowing he was due to fly out to Belize that night.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
28 September 1999: The rain fell that night, as though heaven itself was crying. Hal hadn't slept much since the last night. Diane's funeral had been a damn hard affair to go through. He had felt like a machine about to fly apart, even though his mates tried to help him through it. Even Digger quit making jokes for one day, which was all but amazing. That had been five days ago.  
  
Hal stood in front of Diane's grave that night, the rain soaking his clothing. He didn't care for that. The water mingled with the last of his tears. "Diane. Remember how I promised you my love months ago?" Hal began, as he knelt in front of it, leaving a bouquet of roses at the foot of her headstone.  
  
"I keep my promises, Diane, and I give you a new one. I'll find whoever did this to you, I swear an oath." Hal began, "And you should know that I never take oaths lightly."  
  
Lightning flashed at the gravesite as Hal made his promise, "And you shall know that his remains will never be found when I'm through with him. Consider this great labor of mine, my love, as my way of keeping my promise."  
  
Hal turned away and walked off through the cemetery. The gravestone reading Diane Schonke, January 21, 1976 - September 19, 1999, Much Beloved and Missed By All, bore mute testimony to the promise of the grief stricken lover who's love lay six feet underground in the cold earth.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
18 May 2000: "Ivy, what's wrong with Hal?" Zack asked, "He doesn't look so good."  
  
"Maybe it's the new case we've just been assigned. I don't know. But all I know is something's been bothering Hal about this since we were assigned the case." Ivy replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC (This is to shed some light on Hal's issue with Diane.) 


	21. Facing the Past

Facing the Past  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before....  
  
C.J. Sandiego - I promise that once this case is over, the whole Diane thing's gonna be over and done with. Just be patient with the story line, please. After all, romances don't always start overnight. (I sorta want Hal and Ivy to become really good friends first before they actually fall in love).  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal's Apartment, Harbor View  
  
18 May 2000: The sunlight filtering through the blinds was minimal and did nothing to put a smile on the face of Hal, sitting on his couch. A small pistol he held in one hand and a picture of Diane he held in the other. This new case they were going to try was really starting to get to him and they hadn't even started on it yet. So many of the details of it reminded him of what had caused Diane's murder.  
  
Female detective complaining about sexual harassment in the workplace. Tries to complain up her chain of command, but it winds up resulting in her receiving anonymous threats on her phone on a nightly basis. This Senior Detective Clara Payton's complaints were becoming eerily similar to a letter he'd received while he was in Belize.  
  
That was the letter he held in his hands right now. He remembered Diane's words to the letter, 'Somebody's been following me around lately. Ever since I complained about his behavior to Senior Inspector Holbarth, I've been getting threats on my answering machine every night.'  
  
Three months after he'd received that letter, Diane was murdered. Her body was found in her car, cause of death was a single bullet to the head, execution style. Hal knew that he would kill Diane's killer, and that where he was going, his new friends at ACME couldn't follow.  
  
He remembered how he'd received that case, earlier that day. From the moment he heard the opening details from Wells he could see the similarities between this case and Diane's murder. In fact he had the file on the investigation packed in his bag.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Armando, Hal, Ivy, Zack and Tatiana were sitting in the bullpen over cups of coffee that steamed fresh from the pot. They were talking about Hal and Ivy's latest case.  
  
"So let me get this straight. You and Ivy uncovered evidence of a corporate coup, won a dance competition, fell down a waterfall, survived being attacked by any number of dinosaurs and found out what happened to my brother over the weekend and some change? My weekends should be so eventful." Armando replied.  
  
"Dream on gaucho. You weren't threatened with a needle full of some weird toxin that could kill you in thirty seconds." Ivy replied.  
  
"Or thrown off a bloody cliff by a Tyrannosaurus Rex." Hal added.  
  
"Or being asked by a corporate weasel for a dance. I may have to destroy that dress." Ivy replied.  
  
"Ivy, you wore a dress?" Zack replied, "Call the papers."  
  
"You wound me, fair lady." Hal replied, "You danced with me right after that particular dance."  
  
"Really. What happened after the dance?" Tatiana asked.  
  
Ivy replied, "Nothing Tatiana. We just went for a little stroll, and Hal walked me back to my hotel room, where I thanked him for such a wonderful night."  
  
"Oh, it was a wham, bam, thank you ma'am kind of deal." Tatiana replied.  
  
Both Hal and Ivy turned red with embarrassment, "Nothing of that sort happened." Ivy replied.  
  
'Though I do wonder what we'd be doing right now if it had.' She thought, 'Hal and I would very likely be having some pretty awkward moments in the office. Ooh, that didn't come out nearly as well as I intended it....'  
  
"I can vouch for that." Hal replied, "We both slept in separate rooms after I walked her back to hers."  
  
'I do wonder what that night might have turned out like, however. But I do think I'd feel like a bastard for using Ivy like that. After all I've only known her for a couple weeks, we're starting to become fast friends, and I can't shake the feeling that until I found who killed Diane I can't move on.' Hal thought.  
  
Tatiana looked slightly disappointed and thought, 'Rats, I thought a few days stuck on a tropical paradise would get those two together. Hmm, maybe I'd best go back to the drawing board....'  
  
"Hal, Ivy," said Corso, "Wells wants to see both of you in his office, pronto."  
  
"What did you do this time?" Ivy asked, jokingly.  
  
"I've no idea. This time I didn't kill anybody." Hal replied.  
  
"Right." Ivy said, "I'd like to avoid the paperwork."  
  
"What are you honking about? I had to do three times the paperwork because I shot Spyde last week." Hal replied.  
  
"As your partner I had to write a couple reports about my observations about your mental and emotional state as well." Ivy said.  
  
As they walked away from the bullpen, Tatiana said, "OK, what's the pool up to?"  
  
"So far, whoever guesses the day that Hal and Ivy wind up dating wins one hundred and fifty dollars." Armando replied.  
  
"I don't believe this." Zack said, "Hal and Ivy have only been partners for two weeks and you already think they're gonna start dating."  
  
"I can see sparks fly whenever they're around each other." Tatiana replied.  
  
"I bet by the time Hal's tour is up in this country they'll at least have kissed each other." Armando began.  
  
"Put me down for fifty bucks that they do more than that." Corso said, "Within three years of Hal's tour at ACME."  
  
"Is the whole OFFICE in on this pool on whether my sister dates her partner?" Zack replied.  
  
"I've got twenty-five that by the end of two years they'll have spent time close together overnight." Phil, one of the men in Corso's three-man Delta Force contingent, Sergeant First Class Philip Walsh, replied.  
  
"What kind of a bet is that?" Corso began, "By those terms, if Ivy's car breaks down and she has to spend an overnight in Hal's apartment you can win."  
  
"Close together, Joe, that means they spend an entire night sleeping within arm's length if not closer to each other." Phil replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hal, Ivy, I have a case for you two to investigate. It shouldn't be too difficult." Grant Wells began, "After all you two are two for two in cases."  
  
"A sexual harassment case? Shouldn't Internal Affairs be investigating this?" Ivy began.  
  
"It's a bit more complicated than that, detectives. Senior Detective Payton is the daughter of Chief Inspector Payton, the Chief Inspector of ACME and our head honcho." Wells began.  
  
"Ah, that's why they want us on the case." Hal replied.  
  
"Exactly. I told Senior Inspector Holbarth, the second in charge of the Hereford Field Office, that he'd be getting my best two detectives. One of whom is quite familiar with the area." Wells said, glancing at Hal.  
  
"Right. I've been posted at Hereford since 1992." Hal replied, "Who's the Chief Inspector of the post, by the way?"  
  
"Chief Inspector Sorens is currently in Paris right now, he's training the replacement for the Paris field office since Chief Inspector DeRutyer had an accident." Wells replied.  
  
"Somebody call my name! Somebody mention the Chief!" the computer generated Chief said.  
  
"Oh Dear God! Not you again!" Wells groaned.  
  
"I see you and the Chief are becoming bosom buddies." Ivy joked.  
  
"Darren! One more remark like that and I'll dock your pay. Olden, don't encourage her." Wells replied. Hal was chuckling as the Chief kept appearing on random surfaces in the room.  
  
"Whoever decided that I needed this Computer Generated Menace is obviously missing a few brain cells." Wells replied.  
  
"Who, moi?" the Chief said, "Grant, you wound me."  
  
"Not as badly as I'll wound you! You're lucky you don't have a body...." Wells replied.  
  
"Anyway." Wells continued, "When Miss Payton made the allegations of sexual harassment to her superiors in the workplace she started receiving threatening phone calls."  
  
At this Hal visibly changed. He seemed distracted, as he heard that allegation about threats to the victim. He actually already had several leads he was following on suspects, narrowed down to two people at the Hereford field office.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
A knock on his door distracted him, "Hal?"  
  
"Yes." Hal said, opening the door.  
  
"Hal, our flight to London's in three hours." Ivy said, "Are you packed?"  
  
"Yes." Hal replied, picking up his bag. Ivy noticed him tucking a small photograph into the pocket of his jeans.  
  
"Are you checking in any baggage?" Ivy asked.  
  
"No." Hal replied.  
  
"We'll take my car then." Ivy replied.  
  
As they rode down the freeway, Ivy asked, "Who was in that picture you put in your pocket?"  
  
"Her name was Diane." Hal replied, "She and I were involved until a few months ago. She worked in the same field office we're about to head to."  
  
"Hal, I know its probably difficult for you to see an ex-girlfriend again, especially after a recent breakup. But you've gotta move on." Ivy replied.  
  
"We didn't break up." Hal replied, "She died not nine months ago."  
  
"I'm sorry." Ivy said, "What happened?"  
  
"We were good friends for about seven years and for most of them I had feelings beyond friendship for her." Hal replied, with a sad smile.  
  
"Did you ever....?" Ivy began.  
  
"We were planning to go to her parent's cabin, back in the States to just be alone and talk about our feelings and whether it was possible to have a relationship." Hal replied, the way he spoke about it was as if he were a thousand miles away, watching a looped playback of his own memories, "She was found murdered in the driver's seat of her car in the parking lot of the Hereford field office."  
  
Hal showed Ivy the small photograph of Diane he kept in his pocket. Ivy was shocked to realize that the woman in the picture was exactly like looking at herself in the mirror. That explained why Hal looked so haunted the first time they met. That also explained those slightly mournful looks he'd get during their first week working together.  
  
They boarded their flight to the United Kingdom and Ivy couldn't help but feel how badly this must feel for Hal, unearthing memories he'd rather have forgotten. As they rode the flight to the UK, they fell asleep leaning against each other, as they'd done before.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	22. Case 3: Death Watch, Part 1

Case 3: Death Watch, Part 1  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. A JAG episode by the same name inspired this one.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
19 May 2000: After an uneventful and long Trans-Atlantic flight, Ivy and Hal had been billeted at a bed and breakfast inn in Hereford owned by an old friend of Hal's from A-Squadron, a former member of the Scots Guards named Gil.  
  
"Hal?" Ivy said, knocking on his door.  
  
Hal opened the door to his room, "Yes."  
  
"We've got an investigation to start up, if you want to get something to eat, now's the best time for it." Ivy replied.  
  
Breakfast was a tense, uncomfortable affair. Hal hadn't said two words since he'd answered the door that morning. There was definitely something on his mind and Ivy as both a partner and a friend wanted to know what it was. She didn't know that under the folds of Hal's shirt was a .380 Walther pistol and that he had on his mind a particular brand of justice for Diane's killer.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
ACME Field Office, Hereford, UK  
  
"Detectives Darren and Olden." Senior Inspector Holbarth began, "I hope you two can clear up these allegations quickly and apprehend the perpetrator before my office really gets any more negative press coverage."  
  
"Forgive me, sir," Hal said, coldly, "But I was under the impression that your office already suffered from bad press and your career already stalled."  
  
Holbarth was a fellow in early middle age, with curly brown hair and a mustache. "Now, Detective Olden, that was quite uncalled for."  
  
"Really? I do think your mishandling of the Schonke murder investigation last year hurt your career and all this constitutes is a final nail in the coffin for your career." Hal replied.  
  
"Olden, I really do think that your frustration over the fact that the perpetrator of Detective Schonke's murder should not be directed at me." Holbarth replied, with an oily grin. Ivy could see she would trust Holbarth as far as she could through him.  
  
"I do think your ambition was seriously frustrated. There's no way you'll make Chief Inspector now." Hal replied, "I can see you retiring at your present rank and failing to please daddy."  
  
"You leave my family out of this Olden. I don't need the frustrations of a fatherless mama's boy right now." Holbarth replied. His father had been Chief Inspector of ACME, the highest position in the organization decades before.  
  
"And I don't need the corpulent shadow of a man who failed to live up to his father's standards darkening my doorstep." Hal replied, making reference to Holbarth's gut.  
  
Ivy watched the exchange between the two men. Hal was obviously taking out his frustrations on Holbarth. "Hal, can I talk to you for a moment?"  
  
"Certainly." Hal replied.  
  
As they made it outside Ivy said, "What the hell has gotten into you Hal?" Ivy asked.  
  
"That sorry excuse for a man bungled the investigation of Diane's murder last year and because of that her killer managed to escape justice." Hal replied.  
  
"That's no excuse to attack the senior detective of a field office we're a guest of, if we expect help." Ivy replied.  
  
"We don't need it." Hal replied, "I've already deduced that whoever was responsible for these threatening phone calls to Payton is the same son of a bitch who killed Diane."  
  
"Hal, we've got a suspect to interrogate in five minutes. I suggest you don't terrorize him with your inner demons." Ivy said.  
  
"Right." Hal replied, with a tone of dark humor, "I should skip the terrorizing and just skin him alive."  
  
"Hal, I realize this case has brought back a lot of memories you don't necessarily want to revisit, but for the sake of our investigation please try and deal with them better." Ivy replied.  
  
"Well, Detective Velasquez is waiting for us in the interrogation room." Hal said, with a wolfish grin, "Let's see what we can turn up."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Velasquez was a bespectacled, slightly overweight fellow who worked in the Crimelab at the Hereford Field Office. He was a shaven haired fellow from Puerto Rico with an arrogant demeanor, he behaved as though this interrogation was a mild interruption of his life rather than the serious allegations that could land him both a dismissal from ACME and time in prison.  
  
"Detective Velasquez, is it true that Senior Detective Payton repeatedly turned you down for no fewer than five dates?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Yes. I tried to ask her out four times, but she...." Velasquez began.  
  
"Let's try a different track, shall we. She turned you down, so you start making harassing phone calls towards her." Hal replied.  
  
"What? No! I've no idea what you're...."  
  
"So what happened the fifth time?" Hal asked, "Did you load the gun you keep?"  
  
"A lot of senior detectives own firearms, its...."  
  
"I'm aware of that tradition. And I'm also aware that there were complaints about you continuously badgering female co-workers for dates." Hal replied, pressing the matter, "And I'm also aware that at least one other detective that turned down your advances and badgering received phone calls as well. What sort of gun do you own?"  
  
"A Colt .38 Detective Special, it's a real popular model." Velasquez began.  
  
"I'm aware of that, as well. And strangely enough, the other detective that turned you down a year ago discovered just such a round lodged in her brain." Hal said, with a calm, even tone of voice that contained a conviction that he was right.  
  
"If you're accusing me of a year old murder, the answer is no!" Velasquez began, "I didn't kill her!"  
  
"Then why are you behaving so defensively?" Hal replied, "If you had nothing to do with the crime, you shouldn't react so defensively."  
  
"He's being inflammatory! I didn't kill...." Velasquez began.  
  
"Or admit to killing." Hal added, with the same calm conviction.  
  
"What!?" Velasquez demanded.  
  
"You must be aware of the similarities of these two crimes, Detective." Ivy said, "Unfortunately both Detectives Payton and Schonke received harassing phone calls after they put allegations of sexual harassment through their superiors. In both instances, you seem to be connected somehow."  
  
"What?" Velasquez said, "In my defense, I may be a little too persistent a pursuer, but I didn't start harassing them with anonymous phone calls."  
  
"Explain why this voice scrambler was discovered in your locker." Hal replied.  
  
"We use those to tape witness confessions." Velasquez replied, he was near tears with terror, thinking he was about to be dragged off to prison.  
  
"No further questions." Ivy said, "Hal, I need to talk to you outside."  
  
They walked outside the interrogation room and Ivy said, "Hal, you were WAY out of line in there. Firstly that inflammatory line of questioning. Second, you really tore into him when you were questioning him."  
  
"He's not the first guilty party to cry under interrogation." Hal replied.  
  
"Hal, for God's sake, even if he is guilty, don't let whatever ghosts from Diane's murder on your mind start haunting you." Ivy replied, "I need you 100% focused. Now, we're supposed to meet Detective Payton for dinner. That's when she feels most comfortable to discuss this. Can I count on you not beating Velasquez senseless or ripping Holbarth's character into shreds for the rest of the day?"  
  
"I'll try. But Holbarth doesn't have any sort of character to shred." Hal replied, it wasn't like a lot of his witty remarks or jokes, "If you'll excuse me."  
  
"Hal, please, let me help you." Ivy said.  
  
"Ivy, where I'm going, you can't follow." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
St. Bartholomew's Catholic Church, Hereford, UK  
  
"Hal?" Ivy said, as she moved among the headstones. That last sentence he said made her worry and she had practically run all the way to their rental car and drove off to someplace some sixth sense told her.  
  
"Yes Ivy?" Hal said, he was standing in front of a marble headstone.  
  
His face looked like it was carved of marble. A bouquet of flowers was at the base of the headstone. "Peony. The state flower of her home state." Hal said, mechanically.  
  
Ivy had never seen Hal look so vulnerable, so haunted. It explained why he was so shocked when they first met in the rose garden back at HQ. The very fact, by whoever's design, that she to a letter resembled Hal's lost love must have been very unsettling for her.  
  
'Does he see me, or does he see her whenever he looks at me?' Ivy thought.  
  
"You really must have loved her." Ivy said.  
  
"With all my heart." Hal replied, blinking. Ivy could see his eyes shined with unshed tears. With only a little hesitation, Ivy closed the distance between them, throwing her arms around Hal who returned the hug.  
  
'I can't believe I'm using her like this. What's more I can't believe she's seeing me this way.' Hal thought.  
  
'It's perfectly natural to grieve Hal. Why are you so afraid of losing it?' Ivy thought. Hal, the normally composed fellow, the one who had helped her crack the last couple of cases was about to crack himself.  
  
Hal could feel Ivy's eyes on him, the hairs on the back of his necks stood on end. He thought, 'Because if I do something, anything that goes beyond what is acceptable between friends, would I be doing it with you, or would some part of me be seeing Diane.'  
  
"Ivy, I'm sorry I was out of line." Hal replied, "Ever since Diane was killed, I've needed closure, in some way. And I know I won't get it until her killer is brought to justice."  
  
"Hal, we'll catch him. I know it." Ivy replied.  
  
'Ivy, the brand of justice I intend to bestow is one you can't possibly have any part in. You've got too brilliant a career with ACME to be caught helping me dispose of a body.' Hal thought. Already he was thinking of the way he'd hide the remains of Diane's killer after he'd slotted the man. He couldn't involve Ivy in what he was planning to do. It would likely end his career, make him into a fugitive and darken the reputations of those who knew him.  
  
"Hal, I'll see you at Russell's Pub tonight." Ivy said, knowing Hal needed time to himself for this one, but not wanting to leave him.  
  
Hal felt like a right bastard that minute. It felt good to have Ivy backing him up on it, even as a friend, but he still felt like he was using her. He needed her not to be there when he killed Diane's killer and avenged his dead love.  
  
'That look on Hal's face, that one that spoke of such determination. It's as if he's planning something he doesn't want me to know about.' Ivy thought, 'But then he's always been protective of you, practically since you first met. What could he possibly be trying to protect you from?'  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	23. Case 3: Death Watch, Part 2

Case 3: Death Watch, Part Two  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
19 May 2000: Senior Detective Sally Payton was a flaxen haired young woman, slim, tall and athletically figured, in her mid-twenties. She approached the table where Hal and Ivy were sitting and joined them. She stopped briefly when she recognized Hal.  
  
"Hal, I just never got the chance to tell you I'm sorry about Diane." Payton said, "There's something she wanted you to have, that I've been taking care of since last year."  
  
"What is it?" Hal asked.  
  
"It's in my car." Payton said.  
  
"Sally, when did you first receive the threats you complained about?" Ivy began.  
  
"Two months ago." Sally replied, "What was disturbing is that's what Diane complained about before she was killed."  
  
"I can see why you'd be concerned." Hal replied, "Anyway, when did Detective Velasquez start hitting on you?"  
  
"About four months earlier." Sally replied.  
  
"So he came after you with unwanted advances?" Ivy said, "What did he do, exactly?"  
  
"He didn't touch me or anything but he'd follow me around. He'd tell dirty jokes around me. And when I turned him down he'd make perverted comments about me when I'd walk by in the hallway. I tried complaining about it, but nothing came of it." Sally replied.  
  
"Did you think that Velasquez ever could become predatory?" Ivy asked.  
  
"When he would try to get with my room mate, Diane, last year, he could do things that bordered on stalking but her complaints didn't seem to get results either." Sally replied.  
  
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Hal saw Velasquez sitting at the bar, a few feet away. It was all he had in him that kept him from not wringing his neck. Even if he didn't harass Diane a year ago, and wasn't possibly responsible for her murder he still found his habits reprehensible. He was sitting with a buddy of his and they had ordered their beers at the bar.  
  
"So this prick goes and accuses me of not only making those calls to Sally. He goes and brings up those allegations last year that I had been responsible for doing the same thing to Diane Schonke last year before she was killed. He even went so far to accuse me of killing her. I wanted to do a lot of things with that girl, but killing her wasn't one of them, I mean I'm no necrophile...." Velasquez said.  
  
"Hey," Hal said, "Can I talk to you for a bit....Outside."  
  
"Hey, what you've got to say to me, you can say here." Velasquez said.  
  
"You fucking Cuban swine! Don't you have any respect for the dead?" Hal remarked.  
  
"Just because you were here boyfriend doesn't mean you can be such a prude." Velasquez began, "What did you have to say, by the way?"  
  
"This." Hal said, calmly and punched him right in the eye. Velasquez's friend tried to intervene but wound up catching Hal's elbow to his jaw.  
  
Hal slugged Velasquez in the stomach three times and then sent a two handed bash into the side of his head. As he lay on the ground, Hal kicked Velasquez in the ribs and then sent a devastating one between the legs. "That's for those comments. That's for the stalking. And that last one was for Diane!" Hal said, angrily as he kept on kicking him in the abdomen, ribs and groin.  
  
"What on earth is going on here?" a British bobby said, walking into the joint.  
  
"Nothing, Constable Growler, I'm just taking out the trash." Hal replied, kicking Velasquez yet again.  
  
"Well, if you want to get some reeducation as to what constitutes rubbish I could take you to the magistrate. You have about five seconds to vacate the premises, Hal." Growler said.  
  
Hal left the pub and walked out into the stormy night. He walked the rest of the way to the bed and breakfast and fell into a short and fairly restless excuse for sleep.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
20 May 2000: "Hal, wake up!" Ivy said  
  
Groggily, Hal threw on the first pair of dry clothes that came handy and walked to the door, "Yes."  
  
"Hal, its about that suspect you assaulted in the bar last night." Ivy began.  
  
"Let me guess, he wants to prefer charges." Hal replied.  
  
"He can't prefer charges if he's dead, Hal." Ivy replied.  
  
"What?" Hal replied.  
  
"That's right. He committed suicide some time late last night. We've been summoned to the crime scene." Ivy replied. Hal looked like a mile of bad road, there were bags under his eyes and a two-day old growth of beard on his face. Less than forty-eight hours after the case was assigned to them and Hal already looked like he had been in hell. Then again, revisiting a loved one's murder always could rough up even the toughest of people.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"God, what a bloody mess." Hal said.  
  
Detective Velasquez lay face down at his computer, blood and gray matter were splattered onto the white dry wall to his left. In his hand was the .38 Detective Special he had spoken of earlier. In his printer was a typed confession.  
  
"Looks like your case is closed, detectives." Holbarth said, "I've booked a flight for you two tomorrow morning."  
  
"We do have some follow up investigating to do." Ivy protested.  
  
"And my office can handle it." Holbarth said.  
  
"Brilliant, it took you almost a year to catch a murderer, Holbarth. What's next, is it gonna take you eight years to book a jay walker?" Hal replied.  
  
"Read it and weep, Olden. Velasquez confesses in his suicide note to stalking both Detectives Payton and Schonke, making the threatening phone calls, and murdering your old sweetheart. Satisfied." Holbarth said.  
  
"Oh yes. I feel the closure." Hal replied, eyes narrowing at Holbarth.  
  
"Feel cheated of the opportunity to do him in yourself, Olden?" Holbarth asked, "I know you'd love to use those lethal little tricks they teach you in the SAS on Schonke's killer. I believe that her murderer is being carried away in the meat wagon. Now the next place I expect to see you two is on the next flight out of here."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ivy was aware of a person standing behind her and she turned around to see a very familiar woman in red. "Carmen?"  
  
"Ivy," Carmen said, "You've barely even scratched the surface of this case. The real killer is still at large. The man responsible for the death of Diane Schonke is not the one being carted away in a body bag."  
  
"Why do I get the feeling Hal knows exactly who it is?" Ivy said.  
  
"Because he does. Please, try and stop him from doing anything rash, for his sake and yours as well." Carmen began.  
  
Ivy looked slightly puzzled about the latter statement, "Carmen, I just met him, we're just friends."  
  
"And you work well together. I was speaking from a strictly professional viewpoint. Hopefully you glean some personal benefit from this partnership, and I mean both of you." Carmen replied.  
  
Ivy felt puzzled and in the blink of an eye, Carmen vanished yet again. What Ivy didn't see was Carmen holding a tiny cell phone and saying, "Hello, is this ACME HQ? Yes, put me in to Detective Tatiana Rossovsky. This is she? Well, I'd like to put in one hundred dollars that Hal and Ivy wind up dating by the time his tour is halfway over."  
  
"Two years? I guessed that because knowing how stubborn both of them are, it will take them a while to admit to any sort of feelings beyond friendship." Carmen replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hal, you're lucky we're related, mate." An older Englishman said, "I outta have you locked up for getting into a fight at my pub. As it is you're replacing that bar stool as well as quite a few pounds in spirits destroyed when you knocked the shit out of that fat Spanish bloke."  
  
"Russell, the man was a fucking dirt bag." Hal replied.  
  
Russell was a balding fellow, with a muscular build of a former prizefighter, which he was. He was also the owner of the pub and Hal's first cousin. What remained of his dirty blonde hair was close cropped, his head nearly shaven and his nose was slightly crooked from having been broken at his final prizefight.  
  
"Whatever." Russell replied. He was thirty-eight years old, going on thirty-nine and also co-owned a gymnasium in Bristol.  
  
"Russell, check your bank account later tonight. I should have paid you the necessary funds by then." Hal replied.  
  
"Listen, Hal, I know that whatever your working on is really getting to you. I also heard a few references to Diane as well. I know it's been hard since...." Russell said.  
  
"I've got work to do, Russell." Hal said, cutting him off.  
  
"Hal, if you've got the time, do you fancy going a few rounds in the ring." Russell replied. Hal and Russell were both avid boxing fans, both men having cut their teeth in the English schoolyards, using their fists to protect themselves. Later both received instruction in the local gym, which Russell now co-owned, after concerned headmasters noted the number of fights both were inclined to get into in grammar school in an attempt to reduce those numbers.  
  
"I would." Hal replied, as he checked his cell phone, "Well, my partner's calling me, I'd best get going."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ivy met Hal that evening, a cloudy, foggy and forbidding one, that was just like the day and night they had spent so far in the United Kingdom. He was standing next to a training facility at the camp called the Kill House. It was the close quarter battle training area for the SAS.  
  
Right now a four-man group stood within arm's length of one another, wearing respirators and black fatigues, their MP-5 sub machineguns ready. A fifth stood holding a 12-gauge shotgun aiming it at a door. He blew down the door with a shotgun blast and the four-man 'stack' rushed into the building. Watching the assaulters at work never ceased to thrill Hal, and he knew that if he was caught after killing Diane's killer this would be a sight he would never see again. But it was something he was willing to do to bring justice for her.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
That night, Hal sat on his bed, reading what Sally Payton had given to him. It was a largely unfinished letter Diane had written to him a week before she was killed. It was together with every letter he'd ever written her in the eight years they'd known each other, the bundle was tied neatly with bits of string on the mattress.  
  
His eyes grew cold at that moment and he knew that the time had come to put things to right. He stuck the small pistol into the waistband of his jeans and untucked his dark gray collared shirt. He also made sure the gray T-shirt he wore underneath it was untucked over the pistol as well. It was time for justice.  
  
The rain pounded outside in one of those drenching showers the UK could be known for. Ivy was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, "Hal, what are you doing?" Ivy said.  
  
"Where I'm going, you can't follow." Hal replied. He was going to go out and kill a man in cold blood, he didn't need her following because he didn't need her being an accessory to his deed.  
  
"Hal, you're not getting rid of me that easily." Ivy replied.  
  
"Fine." Hal replied, as they stepped in the car.  
  
They drove along the motorway towards the field office on the edge of town when Hal stopped the car, "You can either stay in and be locked in, or you can get out."  
  
"Hal? What are you talking about." Ivy said.  
  
"I'll explain later. Ivy, this is for your own good." Hal replied. Before Ivy quite knew what happened, she was standing out in the rain as Hal drove down towards Hereford to confront Diane's killer.  
  
"HAL!" Ivy shouted.  
  
"Ivy! C'mon, I can help you." Carmen's voice echoed, "First let's get you some dry clothing."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC (Can Ivy and Carmen get to Hal before he does anything rash? Who did kill Diane Schonke back in 1999? Find out in the next chapter.)  
  
C.J. Sandiego - This case is to introduce a bit of hardship on the road...Continue to be patient, please. Thanks for being that way. 


	24. Case 3: Death Watch, Part 3

Case 3: Death Watch, Part 3  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. Howie Day owns the lyrics to the song Ghost, not me.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Lately I've been thinking.  
  
Lately I've been dreaming with you.  
  
I'm so resistant to this type of thinking.  
  
Oh, now it's shining through.  
  
I was alone for the last time.  
  
Before my night's vacation with you.  
  
Alive from the first.  
  
Now I'm denied by the ghost of you.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal drove along through the rain, which began to abate. His confrontation with Diane's killer was only a few minutes away. After nearly a year without justice, she would finally have it, paid for by the blood of her murderer. He had left Ivy by the roadside because he couldn't bear her getting in trouble for what he was ready to do. The pistol in his waistband already had a round chambered and the safety on. At this time, his victim should be getting done with work.  
  
He felt bad for leaving Ivy by the roadside, but that was better than her being even peripherally involved as a conspirator in Hal's particular breed of justice.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
You take yourself a photograph and laugh at me.  
  
Please...  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Where was he headed?" Carmen asked Ivy, after handing her a set of dry clothes. They had broken into Sally Payton's apartment to escape from the rain.  
  
"Towards Hereford." Ivy said.  
  
"Where in Hereford?" Carmen said.  
  
"The ACME field office." Ivy said, "I think. He knew who killed Diane, he was absolutely sure of it."  
  
"This is a copy of a letter I discovered on his bed just after you two left the hotel." Carmen said, and began to read Diane's words, "I tried to forward my complaints up to Holbarth, but he didn't do anything about it, officially or otherwise..."  
  
"Holbarth! That's it!" Ivy said, "He killed her!"  
  
"Motive?" Carmen began, "Before we talk about that, there's some dry clothes that fit you in that trunk in the corner."  
  
Ivy went to the bathroom to change, "The question is, how are we going to stop Hal before he kills Holbarth?"  
  
"Perhaps a ghost from the past will be enough to convince him." Carmen began, she had been looking at some pictures of Diane that were in a photo album in the trunk. She handed Ivy a red wool sweater from the trunk. She noticed that Diane wore it quite often.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
I know there's little use in crying.  
  
It's more wide awake and dying then I'm used to.  
  
I thought we'd walk these streets together .  
  
Now I'm hoping that I'll never have to meet you.  
  
Step aside from all this anger. And somewhere in between I can feel you.  
  
Ask me should we try again.  
  
I'm thinking no.  
  
Y'know, it's not what I believe in.  
  
It's not what I believe in.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Holbarth?" Hal said, as he spotted him walking out of the building, over the bridge to the parking garage where his car was parked.  
  
"Yes?" Holbarth said.  
  
"We've got some talking to do." Hal said, the pistol appearing in his right hand.  
  
"What's this about?" Holbarth said.  
  
"She put up those complaints that she was being stalked and harassed through her chain of command. As her supervisor you would have been the first set of eyes to see those complaints." Hal began.  
  
"Yes, Diane Schonke did complain about it, but I...." Holbarth said.  
  
"To hell with your excuses you degenerate PIG!" Hal began, "I pieced together what happened by a partially completed letter she hadn't sent me. She told me about being stalked and then the threatening calls. What she neglected to tell me, and what I learned, is that you didn't do anything to help her and in fact she was ready to file a complaint with ACME HQ about your conduct. But you wouldn't have it, would you?"  
  
"Damn it! Her bitching and complaining cost me my chance at command!" Holbarth began, "I had to do it!"  
  
"Your actions cost a young woman her LIFE! And I'm here to redress that balance, you'll pay with yours." Hal began.  
  
"Now, Olden, you wouldn't shoot me." Holbarth began, "Your career with the Royal Marines has been a distinguished and spotless one...."  
  
"Don't talk of honor to me, degenerate!" Hal began, "You weasel, you couldn't live up to Daddy's expectations no matter how hard you tried! But that isn't the issue, is it?"  
  
"What?" Holbarth began.  
  
"She ruined my career! Now I'm languishing at this rank where I'll retire...." Holbarth said.  
  
"You're not gonna languish any longer." Hal began, "You'll meet God and may he forgive your wicked soul...."  
  
Holbarth felt the web of deceit and political maneuvering he'd built up over the years come apart. He knew that he was going to die at his hands. He wasn't going quietly, however. He was going to give this avenging angel one last stab before the bullet tore into his brain.  
  
"Do you know how I killed her?" Holbarth said, with a leering grin, "She was on her way home after working a late shift, with me supervising. I planned this for months."  
  
"Keep talking." Hal began. Holbarth was walking backwards as this was going on.  
  
"She was last to leave, as she always was. The workaholic little bitch that she was. I went and dragged her into the nearest set of bushes and said, 'You little bitch, if you think stalking is bad, try this on for size.' Yes. I ravished her that night. So if I had let her live, you wouldn't have been the first." Holbarth began.  
  
"The medical report did say Diane showed some inconclusive evidence of being raped." Hal began, keeping the distance between them and circling right, "Maybe I'd best shoot you in the stomach and make sure you're still bleeding and alive when I throw you, weighted with stones into the river and laugh as you DROWN!"  
  
"I'm not finished yet." Holbarth began. He knew if Hal was angry when he murdered him, he'd make a mistake when hiding the body and be convicted for his crimes.  
  
"Then I put a single round into her head and returned the body to her car, to make it look like someone else just killed her during a routine car jacking." Holbarth continued.  
  
"Velasquez's death was your doing as well." Hal said, "Slick, but you never really fooled me."  
  
"Yes." Holbarth began, "Velasquez was a handy scapegoat. He had a tendency to stalk his female co-workers, but his usefulness to me was over."  
  
"So you wrote the suicide note and shot him at his own computer. The same gun you used to kill Diane, I presume." Hal began.  
  
"Exactly." Holbarth replied.  
  
"Now, be prepared to meet God and have a good answer for your crimes...." Hal began, he leveled the pistol and began to squeeze the trigger.  
  
"HAL!"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
You take yourself a photograph and laugh at me.  
  
Please...  
  
You make yourself a photograph and laugh at me.  
  
Please....  
  
No I, wanna taste you, love.  
  
No I....no I.  
  
No I, just wanna taste you, love.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"No shit! I thought I killed you a year ago!" Holbarth shouted.  
  
Standing before the two men, an apparition came from the fog. Even Hal was stunned. It was Ivy standing in the fog, wearing Diane's clothing. The most distinctive article was that red sweater he had bought Diane two years ago when he was in Germany.  
  
If Hal was stunned, then Holbarth was terrified. He was unsure what to do about what appeared to be the ghost of a woman he had killed a year ago. He stepped backwards and wound up tripping over the bridge railing, falling to his death screaming towards the river below him.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Standing in your shoes.  
  
I turn and now.  
  
You're standing bare in my doorway.  
  
I only wish that I had been prepared.  
  
I'm gonna have to go along with your way.  
  
Just take the plastic camera out.  
  
It's the pants you borrowed in the driveway.  
  
Alive from the first.  
  
Now I'm denied by the ghost of you.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hal? Are you alright?" Ivy asked.  
  
Hal nodded, silently as they stood underneath a street lamp, right by the spot where Holbarth had just fallen to his death on the river below.  
  
"Now she can rest in peace." Hal said.  
  
What happened next, neither of them could really explain by reason. Hal took Ivy in his arms, tenderly. He brushed a stray strand of hair from her face and kissed her, warmly with tenderness as if any moment she would disappear before his eyes.  
  
Stunned, Ivy returned the kiss, feeling the passion in it. It was several seconds before they parted underneath the lantern's soft glow. They were still in each other's arms when Ivy asked, "You were kissing her, weren't you?"  
  
Hal nodded wordlessly. He was just as confused. Was he kissing Diane for the last time through Ivy? Or was he welcoming his new partner into his life? He didn't know quite what came over him just then.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Make yourself a photograph and laugh at me.  
  
Please...  
  
You make yourself a photograph and laugh at me.  
  
Please...  
  
No I, wanna taste of love.  
  
No I.....  
  
I was alive from the first.  
  
Now I'm denied by the ghost of you.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC (C.J. Sandiego, Don't be alarmed, they'll talk about the moment at the end in the next chapter.) 


	25. We Need to Talk

"We Need to Talk..."  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before...I also chose to borrow my favorite two stoners from Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob.  
  
C.J. Sandiego - This is to make up for the frustration from the end of the last case.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
21 May 2000: Hal and Ivy made it to Heathrow International Airport without much in the way of conversation. The flight had boarded and they wound up sitting beside each other on the jumbo jet bound across the Atlantic for New York.  
  
Hal couldn't stand the silence, but then he realized it was his own fault. He had violated the trust of his partner of three weeks by kissing her last night. That was one reason he hated losing control, especially since he was prepared to murder another man in cold blood again until last night. Ivy had saved him from making a big mistake.  
  
Ivy hated the silence between them. The last couple of cases before this one Hal had proven himself to be not only a good partner, but also the start of a good friendship. Something had to give, there was no way that they were gonna go through this long flight without talking...  
  
"Ivy, I...." Hal began.  
  
"Hal, wait, I...." Ivy began.  
  
"What did you have to say?" Ivy asked.  
  
"You first." Hal replied.  
  
"Chances are we're thinking the same thing." Ivy said.  
  
"Let's start again....." Hal began.  
  
"We need to talk." They said, simultaneously.  
  
"I was out of line last night. I really shouldn't have kissed you." Hal replied, "It was selfish of me to...."  
  
'I wouldn't apologize about the kiss itself, it was a damn good one, but...' Ivy thought, then said, "Apology accepted. You really missed her, that's all."  
  
"I shouldn't have treated you like you were her, I was out of line for doing that." Hal replied.  
  
"You already said that, and you were. Let me say it again, I forgive you." Ivy said, "But don't start treating me as if I were her. Just don't do that to me again."  
  
Hal could see that he had hurt her the past night, "I can't take back what I did. Because if I did, I would take it back."  
  
"It must have been hard, seeing her every time you saw me." Ivy began.  
  
"Ivy, aside from looks, you two are nothing alike." Hal replied, "She was quiet and reserved where your gung-ho and take the chance if you were. She was average in the self-defense department where you routinely keep me on my toes. She tended to think things through where your impulsive. So, no, I don't always see her every time I see you." Hal replied.  
  
"Do you now?" Ivy replied.  
  
"As I said, occasionally." Hal said, "I need only talk to you and see you and Diane are nothing alike. Yes, I'll miss her....but."  
  
"Hal? What about right now, who do you see?" Ivy asked, "I need to know."  
  
"I see you, Ivy, only you. Last night was the last time I ever saw Diane in you. Yes I was kissing her last night, kissing her goodbye. That chapter in my life is closed, and nothing I can do can change it." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy could see Hal's soul, laid bare, that moment. To have loved someone that dearly, then to lose them in an instant. She could see why things were bad for Hal. Ivy did the only thing she could think of. She hugged him and Hal returned it.  
  
"Ground rules?" Hal asked.  
  
"Let's just try to stay friends." Ivy said, "For now."  
  
"Understood, I'll refrain from any sorts of affectionate acts of the nature of last night unless they're meant for you." Hal replied.  
  
"Hal, if you ever need to talk...I'm there for you." Ivy began.  
  
"That's very kind of you, but I'm not sure I deserve it, after I...." Hal began.  
  
"Hal, while I'm still upset with you over last night, I still have to work with you, and I admit I enjoy working with you. When you're not shooting your way through a horde of rampaging dinosaurs, that is." Ivy began.  
  
"Ivy!" Hal protested.  
  
"On the good side of it, though, you saved my life that night." Ivy said, smiling a wry smile, "You've been there for me when it really counts."  
  
Hal smiled back at her as the plane continued across the Atlantic. He went and grabbed a pillow and blanket from the overhead luggage bin and grabbed a second set to boot. He figured one, or both of them would be asleep for part of the flight, at least. Ivy really sounded like she meant that one. He'd laid Diane's ghost to rest last night, after Holbarth died it felt like a weight had been lifted from his soul. Now he could move on with his life.  
  
Ivy had fallen asleep just then. Her half read copy of Lewis Carol's Through the Looking Glass was open and face down on the tray table. He put a worn, well used bookmark that she had lying next to the book into the spine, closed it and put it back on the table. He the moved the arm rest between them up and gently placed the pillow under her head. He covered her with the blanket as she muttered something in her sleep and turned towards him. He was rewarded with a sleepy smile and a yawn.  
  
"One thing about yawns, they're bloody contagious." Hal replied, yawning as well. He watched Ivy's still form as she slept. She looked so peaceful, so delicate. Now at last, he knew he didn't see Diane when he saw her. They were two completely different people. Why that fact filled him with a certain peace, he didn't know, but he knew he'd worry about that some other time.  
  
Hal yawned and fell asleep himself as the flight wore on. A short time later, Ivy woke up. She smiled again as she realized Hal must have tucked her in. 'I could really get used to him doing that for me.' Ivy thought, 'Whoa, where did that come from? At least now I know he did that for me.'  
  
Ivy looked at him. Finally he seemed peaceful, after having been through the hardest two days of his life. He was definitely out cold, his eyes were closed and he was curled up under his own blanket.  
  
The rest of the flight passed uneventfully, with the two either sleeping or passing the time with idle banter.  
  
"So then Lucas mooned an entire contingent of European nurses." Hal finished his story.  
  
"Those friends of your sound pretty wild." Ivy replied.  
  
"Not nearly as bad as a bloke from B Squadron we knew. He was Warrant Officer Utterson, of Mobility Troop, a counterpart to my gang in G Squadron. He couldn't speak a lick of Spanish when sober, but any time alcohol touched his brain he instantly became El Supremo, the Mexican 'El Champion!' and he'd start tackling people around the base at random." Hal began.  
  
"OK." Ivy said, "I'd love to spar this friend of your when he's drunk. He reminds me of two guys who work in the security department, Jay and Silent Bob."  
  
"They sound like those two blokes from Mallrats." Hal began.  
  
"They act like them too." Ivy said, "They're always a laugh riot whenever they're at the metal detector."  
  
"Oh! You mean those two blokes! The fat bearded lad with the black trench coat and the blond wiry guy who uses the f-word as a punctuation mark?" Hal asked.  
  
"Whenever ANYTHING goes wrong at HQ, Wells always yells at them." Ivy began, "I remember when he fell asleep on the night shift and they waxed his head."  
  
Hal laughed and said, "Those two remind me of two Australian guys in B Squadron, they were the Fox twins, Freddy and Ferdy. I remember one prank where they put black shoe polish on the eyepieces of all the sniper scopes. They didn't obscure the sights, but whenever a sniper looked through the eye piece, they'd get black rings around their eyes."  
  
"I wonder what would happen if Jay and Silent Bob ever met Freddy and Ferdy Fox." Ivy began.  
  
"A great disaster." Hal replied, "Those two would get them plastered and then they'd go on a prank rampage."  
  
"Don't remind me. Armando is still annoyed at Operation Bonkers." Ivy replied.  
  
"Operation Bonkers?" Hal asked.  
  
"That was when they left a spring loaded boxing glove in his desk drawer. It was really funny when he opened it to get a file, it came out and punched him in the eye." Ivy replied.  
  
The plane touched down in San Francisco and Ivy dropped Hal off at his apartment before heading home herself. Despite all the drama that had occurred over the past couple of days, she was sure she had found a friend in Hal Olden, and friends forgave and took care of one another.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	26. Hatikva

Hatikva  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. Hatikva means 'the Hope' and is the Israeli national anthem. Just type in the title of this chapter into a Google search engine if you want to hear what the anthem sounds like.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
22 May 2000: The strains of the anthem echoed through the room of the barracks occupied by the soldiers of the Sayeret Golany, one of many Israeli Special Forces units operating throughout the Gaza Strip and West Bank.  
  
On a large coffee table in the midst of the room was a portrait of a young soldier, about nineteen years old with the standard close-cropped hairstyle of the men in the room. Around the table were clustered several of his mates. A brown beret bearing the cap badge of the Sayeret Golany, the reconnaissance unit attached to the Golany Infantry Brigade was on the table and leaning against the wall was the man's rifle between a pair of boots. The soldiers had shut off the electric lights and flanked the portrait of the soldier with lighted candles.  
  
"Nathan believed in the cause we fight for, against the Palestinian jackals." Yael, the officer in charge of the unit said, "Like every man in this room, he answered Israel's call to fight the scourge of terror. His death was unfortunate, but shall not go unanswered. Families suffer when one of their own is lost. So to do military units, but we must still fight so that sacrifices like Nathan's will not be in vain."  
  
Barak, the chaplain, began to lead the prayer for the deceased. At forty- seven he was an old man to the soldiers in the room. As young as seventeen and none older than twenty-two, they were men revered by the nation as the elite. He could see tears on the faces of many of the men. After the prayer he said, "Would any wish to say more of the deceased?"  
  
"Having known Nathan since before we enlisted, I would." A voice said. The voice belonged to a soldier standing in the back of the room. The soldier's name was Andrew Demerest, a Christian who had lived on a kibbutz started several decades ago by a visionary of his creed in the state of Israel.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
23 May 2000: Hal put his newspaper down on the table in the bullpen. The headline read, TWELVE PALESTINIANS, FIVE ISRAELIS KILLED. He was waiting for Ivy to work on some necessary paperwork for their last case.  
  
Ivy walked into the bullpen just then and said, "They're still going at it?"  
  
"Yes, apparently. Things have gotten worse than when I was over there in 1998." Hal replied.  
  
A third person walked into the room just then. She had short brown hair that stopped about half way above her neck, rich brown eyes, and a slim figure. She was about twenty years old if her face was any indication.  
  
"Are you done with this paper?" the woman asked.  
  
"Yes." Hal replied.  
  
"Jackie." Ivy said, "This is my new partner, Hal Olden."  
  
"Jackie Harris." The woman said, "Ivy's told me a bit about you. You're from Britain, right?"  
  
"Yes." Hal replied.  
  
"You're also an SAS soldier?" Jackie asked  
  
"Yes." Hal replied, "Ivy, how do you know her?"  
  
"Seven years ago, she was a junior detective assigned to follow me on my safer cases." Ivy replied, "We're due to get a junior detective apiece some time today."  
  
"It's a mentorship program then." Hal replied.  
  
"It is." Ivy replied, "But Jackie and I somehow clicked and seven years later she still comes to me for advice."  
  
Suddenly, Jackie grew pale, "Ivy, could you do me a favor..."  
  
"Sure." Ivy began, as they headed to the Crimenet Area, the intelligence office. As a Detective, Jackie wasn't permitted in that area unless accompanied by someone at the rank of Senior Detective or higher.  
  
The guard let them in and the trio was in a room with a large world map displaying the locations of every ACME Field Office, known VILE or other criminal activity and other such information. One of the programmers turned. He was a young man, about Jackie's age, tall, with brown hair and eyes. He and Jackie hugged each other.  
  
"This is Chris Osteen, my boyfriend." Jackie said, "Chris, has Crimenet gotten the names of the five dead Israelis in today's headline."  
  
"Yeah." Chris said, "Demerest isn't one of them."  
  
"Demerest?" Hal asked Ivy.  
  
"Andrew Demerest, he was a friend of Jackie's. He was an Israeli and last year he went back to Israel to join the Israeli defense force." Ivy replied.  
  
The three detectives left the room and headed back to the bullpen. "So Ivy, what have you been up to?"  
  
"Let's see, I worked three cases in sixteen days that included a psychotic sniper, a corporate takeover, rampaging dinosaurs, and a solved a year old murder." Ivy replied, "I'm in one of those cycles where the caseload multiplies exponentially."  
  
"Christ, if I do another report, it'll be too soon." Hal replied.  
  
"Well I'm not the one who shot a serial sniper dead. Or killed several animals of high value to InGen." Ivy replied.  
  
"Bloody hell, I had no idea death and mayhem required reports to be filed in triplicate." Hal replied.  
  
"Welcome to ACME, my friend." Armando said.  
  
Armando, Tatiana, and now Zack were sitting in the bullpen. "Jackie, I see you're still following Ivy around like a lost pup." Zack said.  
  
"Be nice." Ivy replied.  
  
"Otherwise, knowing your sister, you won't live to be a dad." Hal replied.  
  
"You mean Zack's a father?" Jackie asked.  
  
"He is." Hal replied.  
  
"Excuse me...." Tatiana said, clamping a hand over her mouth and running for the bathroom.  
  
"Two more months of this for you mate." Hal replied.  
  
"Well, as best man, I get to plan the bachelor party." Armando said.  
  
"Why do I sense disaster in your future then?" Ivy replied.  
  
"I'll take care of them." Hal replied.  
  
"That's even worse." Ivy replied.  
  
"Guys. I really don't need...." Zack replied.  
  
"It's traditional mate." Hal replied.  
  
"Besides, I gotta test that new video camera." Armando said, "The one you and Ivy gave me for Christmas last year."  
  
"Oh God no." Zack groaned, "It's gonna be worse than when you guys videotaped the New Year's Party at our house. Mom's still miffed about all those Jose Cuervo bottles you brought into the house Armando."  
  
"She'd better not stay at his apartment, that's all he has in the fridge." Tatiana remarked, walking back into the room.  
  
"Better than that whole rack of sports drinks Hal has in his fridge. I swear the man drinks more lucozade, gatorade, and powerade than an entire football team." Ivy remarked.  
  
"That's how I got through Selection." Hal replied, "I threw tons of electrolytes down my neck before and after every day."  
  
"Pardon me," Jackie said, "But doesn't Armando have nothing but Julio Iglesia music in his CD case?"  
  
"Bollocks mate, Phil Collins can't be topped for best artist." Hal replied.  
  
"Hah? Phil Collins - Great artist, funny, Hal, funny." Armando remarked, "And besides I listen to other stuff."  
  
"Like every version of the Macarena." Hal replied.  
  
"OK Brit, let's not repeat the Falklands..." Armando replied.  
  
"You mean where the British military kicked the crap out of the Argentinians in the South Atlantic." Hal replied.  
  
"Ouch. Bad example! Bad example!" Armando replied.  
  
"Well, I'm off, I've got a case I'm working on." Jackie said.  
  
"Great, Ive, next thing we know we'll have yet another uber-feminist on our hands." Zack remarked.  
  
"I've been trying for the past seven years, Zack, I really have." Ivy replied.  
  
"Well, I've got work to do, and a bachelor party to plan." Armando said.  
  
"Oh geez." Zack groaned, getting on his crutches he added, "I've got some stuff Josha wanted me to look at in the Crimelab."  
  
Hal and Ivy were now alone in the bullpen, "Nothing to do but a ton of paperwork. Cut and paste, cut and paste." Hal remarked.  
  
"Sounds like my approach to paperwork." Ivy replied.  
  
"So who is this Demerest bloke Jackie was asking about again?" Hal replied.  
  
"Andrew Demerest was Jackie's old partner. They were good friends, and I always suspected he had a crush on her." Ivy replied.  
  
"Then last summer, during break, she and Chris started dating. When Andrew found out he quit ACME and joined the Israeli Army." Ivy replied, "Jackie doesn't know that was his reason for joining, though, so don't tell her."  
  
"Personally, I don't think you should keep these things from your protégé, but that's just me speaking." Hal replied, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a bachelor party to help Armando plan. And we're setting it for tonight."  
  
Ivy rolled her eyes and said, "You know my phone number if you need to get bailed out of jail."  
  
"I'm willing to bet you lunch on me for a whole week that we don't get in any sort of trouble." Hal replied.  
  
"Then I hope you have an ATM card handy, Harold." Ivy joked.  
  
"You wound me." Hal replied, walking back into his office.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC (That little blurb in the beginning will be explained in succeeding chapters, but coming up next, the infamous bachelor party...) 


	27. Bachelor Party

Bachelor Party  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before...  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
0430 Local Time, San Francisco Police Department  
  
24 May 2000: "They're right in that cell over there." The policeman said to Ivy.  
  
As Ivy walked down the hallway with Tatiana in tow, she could hear arguing coming from the cellblock. She heard Zack's voice combined with two British voices and one Argentinean one. She knew Armando's voice was the Argentine one and one of the British voices was Hal's.  
  
"You wanker! This was your bloody fault!" Hal said.  
  
"ME! I'm not the one who decided to load Zack on bourbon!" Armando said.  
  
"We couldn't have done any more damage than that Jose Cuervo crap you had him drink." Said the other British voice, "And besides you were the one grabbing the wheel from the designated driver."  
  
"And you were mooning every pedestrian in sight." Hal said to Lucas.  
  
"And I certainly didn't hire those two strippers...." Armando began.  
  
"Bollocks!" both British voices snapped simultaneously.  
  
"That blonde one was certainly sweet on you, Hal." Armando snapped.  
  
"Better than that confused French poodle that started humping your leg at midnight when you got drunk and staggered into the next lawn you bloody wanker."  
  
"Lucas, shut up!" Armando and Hal said simultaneously.  
  
"Your siding with the Spic, bloody hell mate, we go way back." Lucas replied.  
  
"Lads, I called Ivy about half an hour ago, she should be on her way over." Hal replied.  
  
"Guys, please shut up! I'm dying right here." Zack groaned.  
  
"You got a bloody hangover mate." Lucas replied.  
  
"Tell me again how we got into all of this?" Zack groaned.  
  
"Yes, do tell." Ivy said.  
  
"Please, don't leave anything out." Tatiana added.  
  
"We're busted." Zack replied, "We're so busted."  
  
"Well, first we decided to take Zack to the pub. And who should we run into but this slimy wanker right here, Lucas." Hal replied.  
  
"Hey! I resent that remark!" Lucas replied.  
  
"You resemble it too, mate." Hal replied, indicating the other Englishman, a medium built fellow with long brown sideburns, a goatee, and a mustache.  
  
"Anyway, we went to the bar and then we ran into Lucas." Hal continued  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
23 May 2000: "Hey, come here often dickhead?" said a guy from the bar.  
  
"Lucas, you wanker, what are you doing here?" Hal asked.  
  
"Who is this clown?" Armando asked.  
  
"This 'clown' is one of my best mates from G Squadron." Hal replied, "And from before we joined the Regiment."  
  
"Sergeant Lucas Coven, South Hampton."  
  
"They made you sergeant?" Hal asked, "Who was drunk enough to promote you?"  
  
"The same bloke drunk enough to make you a bloody rupert." Lucas replied.  
  
Both men started laughing, "What brings you here mate?"  
  
"I got me a few days leave, so I figured I'd visit the States and one of my favorite ruperts." Lucas added.  
  
"Kiss ass." Hal joked back.  
  
"What about you?" Lucas asked.  
  
"Oh, the Argentine fellow is Armando and the blonde is Zack. They're mates of mine at ACME." Hal replied, "This is the blonde's bachelor party."  
  
"Now, I've got plenty of experience with those. I planned Digger's bachelor party a few years back." Lucas said, "I've got some ideas and a couple contacts here we could use."  
  
"Be afraid, be very afraid." Hal replied.  
  
"What's this stuff?" Zack said, "Jose Cuervo? Geez Armando, I can barely tolerate ale."  
  
"Ah, it's good for you, for a bit of fun before your wedded bliss." Armando said, "It'll put the hair on your chest and we know how much women love hair."  
  
"Maybe I'll try a bit." Zack said, and took a swig. And when he did he felt a buzz and a jolt like he'd been kicked by a mule, "Whoa. Maybe I'll try a little more."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Half an hour later: "When Irish eyes are smiling...hic." Armando began, singing off key with Zack accompanying.  
  
"Wanker, some people can't hold their alcohol." Lucas remarked.  
  
"They've already gone through a whole bottle and now they want some more." Hal remarked.  
  
"I vote we move this party somewhere else." Lucas mentioned.  
  
"Where?" Hal replied.  
  
"Aren't Zack's parents out of town." Lucas said, he'd overheard it in the conversation.  
  
"Yeah." Hal remarked.  
  
"Since you've only had a bit to drink, your designated driver." Lucas replied, "C'mon mates, lets go."  
  
The four of them piled into Hal's Land Rover and they drove towards Zack's parents' house in the suburbs. "What have you got to drink here?" Lucas said.  
  
"Nothing really." Zack said, mildly croaked.  
  
"St. Paulie's? Budweiser? Wanker, don't you people have anything decent to drink?" Lucas remarked.  
  
"It doesn't appear so, evidently." Hal remarked.  
  
"Well go head to that liquor store down the street." Lucas said, "I'll call up some of my contacts out here."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
24 May 2000: "So you bought the bourbon?" Ivy asked.  
  
"I didn't think they'd drink it." Hal replied.  
  
"This is worse than Armando getting Zack tanked on his twenty-first birthday." Ivy groaned.  
  
"Told you this bloke wasn't entirely blameless!" Lucas remarked.  
  
"Shut up, will you, this is getting good." The guard said.  
  
"Right. Afterward, Lucas' infamous contacts made an appearance." Hal replied.  
  
"This is gonna be good." Tatiana said, with a wolfish grin, looking daggers at Armando, Hal, and Lucas.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
23 May 2000: "Don't tell me, that whole bottle's gone?" Hal asked.  
  
"Your idea, wanker." Lucas said.  
  
"You, my friend, said get something from the liquor store." Hal replied.  
  
"I didn't mean a bottle of bourbon. And the buggers didn't leave any for me, bloody hell." Lucas replied.  
  
"Amazingly, they're still conscious." Hal replied. The doorbell rang just then.  
  
"Well no shit." Lucas said, "My contacts are here."  
  
"Where's Zack and Armando?" Hal said.  
  
"They're in the living room, playing a drinking game." Lucas said, frankly.  
  
"Which one?" Hal asked.  
  
"They're watching American Pie and taking a swing from the bourbon whenever they hear any band camp related words. It's a good thing my contacts got here, we need to liven things up a tad." Lucas remarked.  
  
Two women came in just then. One was a brunette in a harem outfit, the other was a blonde wearing a trench coat and a fedora hat. "Where's the future groom?" the blonde asked Hal, and added in a low, husky whisper, "You know, after I'm done with him, we could arrange a private show."  
  
"I'd rather not." Hal began.  
  
"What's the matter, you don't like girls." The woman replied.  
  
"Of course I do." Hal replied.  
  
"Then what's the problem then." Lucas said, "You've hardly had any action since Diane."  
  
"Lucas, you even mention her I'll tear you in half." Hal replied.  
  
"Geez mate, don't be so sensitive." Lucas said, "Anyway, Zack's the bloke with the blue polo shirt and slacks sitting on the couch. Dora, I'm glad you could make it, I see Lindy's already doing a great job entertaining the gaucho and the male blonde."  
  
"Lucas told me all about you." Dora, the blonde, said, "So who was Diane?"  
  
Hal told her the entire story and Dora said, "You know what, I think you're getting a little spark when it comes to Ivy."  
  
"What?" Hal replied, "She's my partner and lately we've been becoming good friends...."  
  
"So when you kissed her in England, was it her you kissed, or Diane?" Dora asked.  
  
"I'm not sure myself really. I'm sure I was kissing Diane for the last time and at the same time trying to welcome Ivy into my life. But as far as I know we're just friends." Hal replied.  
  
"Don't be afraid to explore that option. If this conversation's any clue, you should go for Ivy. Now, if things don't work out, you know where to find me." Dora said, "Now, I've got a suspect to interrogate."  
  
"This should be good." Hal said, walking into the living room as Dora provocatively circled Zack after making sure his hands were cuffed behind him. His shirt and undershirt were already gone and he was muttering something about Tatiana killing him if she heard about this.  
  
"Don't worry about it mate, we won't tell." Lucas said, fingers crossed behind his back.  
  
The next thing they knew was that Dora removed both her trench coat and fedora and was wearing little more than lace, stockings, heels and a smile under that coat. She straddled Zack's lap and the look on his face was priceless.  
  
"Oh God, she's gonna kill me." Zack moaned.  
  
"Where's Armando?" Hal asked.  
  
"I don't know, he just left the room fifteen minutes ago." Zack said, "Please God I'm gonna die if Tatiana finds out."  
  
"Well, I'll look for Armando, could you make sure that Dora doesn't get out of hand and get Zack in trouble." Hal told Lucas.  
  
"Right." Lucas said.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
24 May 2000: "So let me get this straight. The two strippers were 'interrogating' Zack while Lucas watched and you went looking for Armando?" Ivy said.  
  
"Exactly." Hal replied, though he gingerly avoided mentioning the little conversation with Dora regarding Ivy.  
  
"What happened next? I assume that was when you all got put in jail." Ivy replied.  
  
Far from getting upset, Tatiana was actually laughing about this entire matter, "Zack, it's a bachelor party, you're supposed to enjoy the treatment that the others give you. Now if you do something like this again, then I will kill you."  
  
"We're still busted." Lucas said.  
  
"QUIET!" Everyone in the room shouted.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"I can't find him anywhere." Hal said.  
  
"Well, let's go look for him." Lucas said, "Help me get Zack dressed."  
  
The three men walked out into the night and hadn't got more than four blocks when they saw Armando staggering around the neighborhood singing at the top of his lungs the song, Mi Caballo Blanco, (My White Horse).  
  
"Armando! Get over here!" Hal shouted.  
  
"Whee! Can't catch me!!!" Armando shouted as Hal grabbed a fistful of his shirt. Armando threw it off and said, "Wow, so liberating. Now let's see how much more free this feels! Yahoo!"  
  
Presently Armando was wearing nothing but a goofy grin as he ran down the residential neighborhood. "Lucas! Zack, head him off at the pass and...."  
  
"Whoopie! Wait Armando!!!" Zack shouted, and ran just as naked down the street.  
  
"Now we've got two problems mate!" Lucas said.  
  
"Oh shut up!" Hal shouted, "Make that three."  
  
A police car with its sirens blaring came right up to the quartet. "Wanker." Lucas groaned.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
24 May 2000: "And that's when we got picked up for disturbing the peace and indecent exposure for Armando and Zack." Hal finished.  
  
Ivy laughed as the guard let them out of the cell. "Armando, that's the last bachelor party you ever plan." Ivy said.  
  
"Ditto." Hal replied, "You plan another one I'll skin you alive."  
  
Ivy and Hal walked into her 1999 Corvette as they drove towards Harbor View, and Hal's apartment he fell asleep.  
  
"Men." Ivy remarked, grinning.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	28. Case 4: Masada, Part 1

Case 4: Masada, Part 1  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. Can you guess the historical significance of Masada?  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
ACME HQ Parking Lot, 1700, Local Time  
  
24 May 2000: "Hal, I can't believe you managed to throw a bachelor party and get arrested on a Tuesday night." Ivy said.  
  
"You're never gonna let me live this one down, are you Ninja-Girl?" Hal asked.  
  
"Not in a million years, John Bull." Ivy replied.  
  
"I didn't even plan the bloody thing." Hal replied, "And I'm still being blamed for it."  
  
"Hal, you sure have a lot of paperwork to do tonight." Ivy said, noticing the number of folders tucked under his arm.  
  
"So do you, Ivy." Hal replied, "Drunken disorderly conduct always lands one extra paperwork even though I'd not drank nearly as much as the other three wankers with me on last night's fiasco."  
  
"Well, I've got a report on our case in England to work on." Ivy replied.  
  
"And one about Anti-Semitism, it seems." Hal replied, indicating a reference book titled Anti-Semitism in America (1845-1997).  
  
"Jackie asked me to help her out with her case." Ivy replied.  
  
"Are you up for another working dinner tonight?" Hal replied.  
  
'Hell yes.' Ivy thought, "Definitely."  
  
"My place or yours?" Hal asked.  
  
"Yours if you don't mind." Ivy replied.  
  
"Not at all? I'll fix dinner as well." Hal replied.  
  
"You can cook?" Ivy asked.  
  
"I always used to help mum about the kitchen growing up. Plus my French grandmother taught me dozens of her recipes." Hal replied.  
  
"Your grandmother's French?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Oui mademoiselle." Hal replied, "On my mother's side, so I'm a quarter French by birthright."  
  
"Seven o'clock sound good?" Ivy said.  
  
"Seven's just fine. Bring a healthy appetite along." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hal's Apartment, Harbor View, 1900 Local Time  
  
There was a ringing that wasn't the oven. Hal strode over to the door and opened it up. Ivy stood on the other end and Hal suddenly felt self- conscious. Ivy had changed clothes and obviously showered if the smell of that strawberry scented shampoo mixed in with that lilac scent she always wore were any indication. She had also changed into a new pair of jeans and wore a white rain jacket, which she removed and hung on a peg behind his door, revealing the gray cotton blouse she wore underneath.  
  
Hal by contrast was wearing his same jeans from work and his 1999 France World Cup shirt, which had seen many a squadron rugby game. He also had an apron on, which had a British flag motif on it, for obvious reasons.  
  
"Something smells good in here." Ivy said, lightly sniffing the air, thinking, 'And it's not just the food either. That cologne you usually wear smells great.'  
  
"Thank you." Hal replied, thinking, 'And I could easily say some one smells great too. Damn I wish I'd had time to clean up better after the gym.'  
  
"Dinner will be ready about now." Hal replied as his over timer sounded and he went off to the kitchen to collect the meal.  
  
"What's for dinner?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Poullet et poullet frites." Hal replied, "French for roast chicken and fries. It's one of Grandma Helene's famous quickie recipes."  
  
"Hal, it's a working dinner, not a three course meal." Ivy said, "It's alright."  
  
"Yeah, just take your seat at the table, I'll have dinner over there in a bit." Hal replied.  
  
Hal came out with the servings and put them in the midst of the table. He put his apron on a peg on the wall and took the seat across from Ivy.  
  
"So Hal, taking up interior decorating I see." Ivy said.  
  
"I try." Hal replied.  
  
Since he'd moved in Hal's loft apartment started to take on a homier feel. More pictures and decorations were present, the large wall map with the colored pins still visible in his living room. One or two modern art paintings were hanging around in the hallway and living room. A couple plants were near the windows, hung from homemade rigs.  
  
"I figure since I'll be living here for four years I'd best get this place looking somewhat decent." Hal replied.  
  
"It's starting to look like home for you, I'd say." Ivy said, noticing a British Union Jack above his leather sofa.  
  
"Some new furniture I looked into before I'd been assigned here." Hal replied, "Because I knew ahead of time about this assignment I'd had time to move a lot of stuff into storage from my old flat in Hereford."  
  
Ivy noticed another picture next to his couch, where they'd migrated to look over the case file on the coffee table. It was one of a group of men, most of them wearing black fatigues, holding MP-5 sub machineguns with knives strapped to their chests or ankles. The four men standing at the edge held telescope-sighted rifles and wore camouflaged uniforms. One of the four men was Hal and the other was Lucas.  
  
"That's a few of the blokes from the SP team." Hal replied, "One squadron is always on standby in the UK for counter terrorist work. This was from 1997."  
  
There was a picture of Hal and Diane standing underneath that same lantern where he'd kissed Ivy back in Hereford on the television stand. "That one was taken a few weeks before she was killed, back in 1999 before I deployed to Belize." Hal explained.  
  
Hal turned on the television and said, "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up, since that was where we...."  
  
"Hal, remember I forgave you for that." Ivy replied, thinking, 'Though I still don't know why you think you ought to apologize. That was a damn good kiss.'  
  
'Great job Olden, open mouth, insert foot. Why the hell did I have to dredge up our last case?' Hal thought, and then said, "About that case, what exactly was it about?"  
  
"Jackie got assigned a case involving somebody throwing rocks and a Molotov cocktail through the windows of a synagogue downtown." Ivy replied.  
  
"Really, should be something we can wrap up in about twenty minutes, maximum." Hal replied.  
  
"The thing she noticed is, they caught the suspects, a couple teenagers of Middle Eastern decent but there was some sort of writing on there. I had Zack look at it and he said it was...." Ivy began.  
  
"HAMAS." Hal replied, looking at one of the photographs. The partially burned bottle had some sort of slogan in Arabic written on it.  
  
"How did you know?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Ivy, I worked with the Israeli Special Forces back in 1998. I know what the HAMAS looks like in Arabic script all too well." Hal replied.  
  
The phone rang just then and Hal picked up, "Olden. Oh, hello Russell, how's it going mate."  
  
"Who's Russell?" Ivy asked.  
  
Hal cupped the receiver and said, "He's my cousin."  
  
Ivy watched as Hal listened to his cousin on the phone for a few minutes, when Hal suddenly said, "You wanker!"  
  
"Yes, I do have a friend in my apartment and she happens to be a lady. You'd best take that comment about clothing and shove it." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy laughed as she saw Hal's face turn beet red as he and his cousin argued over the phone. Whatever Russell was saying was enough to make him blush.  
  
"Oh will you shut up!" Hal replied, "You interrupted nothing of that sort! Otherwise I'd REALLY be livid!"  
  
After a few more minutes Hal said, "Russell, listen mate, this isn't exactly the best time to call, I'm in the midst of something right now. Sure, call back later tonight, we should be done by then."  
  
Hal hung up the phone and saw Ivy grinning at him, "Was someone else supposed to be a guest here that I didn't know about?"  
  
"No." Hal replied, "Only you."  
  
Ivy turned about four shades of red that moment and Hal said, "I meant on business."  
  
'I'm not blushing because I want to beat you senseless, I'd much rather do something else to you to get you senseless.' Ivy thought, then said, "I really didn't want to be interrupting anything. Well, see you tomorrow Hal."  
  
"I'll be seeing you." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
ACME HQ, 25 May 2000: "Olden?"  
  
Hal heard roll call going in the conference room just as he walked in. 'Bloody Hell, I guess I should never underestimate the effect of a bachelor party on one's system.'  
  
"Wow Hal, this is the earliest you've shown up for roll call all week." Ivy said.  
  
"You should have the record for most late appearances." Zack quipped.  
  
"Better late than never. Or better sober than hung over." Hal replied.  
  
"If I ever touch another drop of alcohol in my life, it'll be too soon." Zack shot back.  
  
"You're a wanker Zack, one step away from being a bloody wanker." Hal replied, as they walked into the bullpen.  
  
"Armando, you're the one that loaded me up on that Jose Cuervo stuff, followed by that bourbon chaser." Zack replied.  
  
"I didn't hear you complaining at the time." Armando snapped back.  
  
"Well you didn't have your fiancé drive you home, tuck you in bed that night..." Zack replied.  
  
"What's wrong with that?" Hal asked.  
  
"I'm not finished." Zack countered, "Then have her hide all the asprin and head ache medicines the next morning when you've had the mother of all hangovers."  
  
"So Ivy?" Tatiana asked, mischievously, "Did anything happen after the bachelor party when you drove Hal home."  
  
"No. He fell asleep in my car on the way to his apartment." Ivy replied, "He's heavier than he looks when you half drag him up three flights of stairs."  
  
"So that's why I fell asleep in my clothes yesterday." Hal replied.  
  
"Speaking of our bachelor party bet, don't you owe me lunch?" Ivy replied.  
  
"Wanker." Hal replied, "You're right. Lunch on me for a whole bloody week."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
A few hours later, Hal walked into Ivy's office, "Are you ready for lunch?"  
  
"Since its on you, any time, Hal." Ivy replied, "I know a good Thai place you haven't seen yet."  
  
"Sounds good." Hal remarked, "I still remember on incident in Malaya..."  
  
"Oh great, is this one of your crazy stories again?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Yes." Hal replied.  
  
"Save it for lunch, we'll have more time." Ivy remarked, "Just one thing though, the Thai hot pepper sauce is hot."  
  
"Shouldn't it be." Hal remarked.  
  
"Trust me, if you've never had it, you'll be screaming bloody murder." Ivy replied.  
  
"I remember before I got sent to the Jungle Warfare school right after Selection, one of my mates from my old unit gave me a jar of that stuff." Hal replied, "A very large jar. I hated it at first, but then as the weeks in the jungle wore on I had it with everything."  
  
"Well let's not yap all day, lets get going." Ivy replied and they walked into the elevator and went to have lunch.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Have you seen Hal or Ivy anywhere?" Grant Wells asked Tatiana.  
  
"I have Chief." Tatiana replied, "They just left to have lunch."  
  
"Well, as soon as their back, let them know they need to see me. Since you're in charge of admin in the office, be sure to book two plane tickets to Israel, first thing tomorrow." Wells said. He held a file on a henchman of Dr. Maelstrom, Aziz Pharhouz, who had recently been seen operating in the Ramala, in the Occupied Territories.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC (Just what are Hal and Ivy going to find in Israel? Action, danger, sand, and one of Maelstrom's hechmen.) 


	29. Case 4: Masada, Part 2

Case 4: Masada, Part 2  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
25 May 2000: "So anyway, Lucas was bathing in the stream and the next thing we heard was a loud, 'What the fuck?!' and a burst of gunfire." Hal continued with his story, "We all thought Lucas had been attacked by something or someone so we all ran over there with our weapons and belt kit only to find him standing naked in waist deep water with his M-16 pointing at something.  
  
"I only wish I had a photograph." Hal replied, "It would have made for some amusing blackmail. The look on his face was priceless, I mean here we are, a bunch of blokes preparing to join Britain's elite military force and we're scared shitless over a stupid five foot long cobra."  
  
"Hal, cobras are poisonous." Ivy replied.  
  
"Not after Lucas practically obliterated its head with most of the magazine in his M-16." Hal replied, "Anyway, we cut off its head, skinned it, and threw it into a pot. It tasted like rubber and not at all like chicken, but that Thai hot pepper sauce made it palatable."  
  
"I take it this must be a much better meal." Ivy said, "Why did you eat that snake by the way?"  
  
"Easy, it seemed to be no point letting it go to waste." Hal replied, "Fresh food's good for morale."  
  
"You had enough rations, right?" Ivy asked.  
  
"We did. During the six weeks at the Jungle Warfare Training Center we appreciated the value of food. We had plenty of boil in a bag rations, but food is important for more than just its caloric value. It's also great for morale." Hal replied, "I remember two blokes from the Paras I served with in Brunei shortly after I got posted to G Squadron for the first time."  
  
"Were they nearly as bad as Lucas." Ivy replied.  
  
"They didn't say much, they were a quiet couple of lads." Hal replied, "They'd used to make a trap at the edge of camp and whatever they'd catch in it they'd kill and make a stew out of. It wasn't half bad some days. One day when our troop commander wanted a feed of fish he tossed a Bangalore torpedo and a pair of hand grenades into the stream. We'd had enough fish to last a lifetime."  
  
"You guys sound like a bunch of destructive overgrown preschoolers with guns." Ivy replied.  
  
"Believe me; quite a few blokes in the unit fit that bill." Hal replied.  
  
"You mean like this Digger character you told me about?" Ivy replied.  
  
"No, I'm thinking more of the Fox brothers and El Supremo." Hal remarked.  
  
"Oh, you mean that guy from the other squadron whom whenever he got drunk he thinks he's a Mexican wrestler named El Supremo." Ivy replied.  
  
"Once around Hereford he put on a pair of spandex wrestling tights and an Aztec patterned ski mask and attacked the mail man." Hal replied.  
  
"You guys certainly have weird people in your ranks." Ivy replied.  
  
"We do, but they're nowhere near as whacked out as Sara Bellum." Hal replied.  
  
Ivy laughed, "You've got a point there, Hal."  
  
Ivy's cell phone rang just then, "Darren."  
  
"Chief, we'll be there after lunch, give us about half an hour to finish up and get to HQ." Ivy replied.  
  
"Leave it to work to interrupt a perfectly good meal." Hal replied.  
  
"And it's on you." Ivy replied.  
  
"You won't let me live that down, will you?" Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Sitting across from Chief Inspector Wells in his office, Hal and Ivy went through the file he gave them. Aziz Parhouz, Dr. Maelstrom's chief weapon's supplier, had been spotted in the West Bank, right smack in the middle of where the Israelis and Palestinians were currently beating the daylights out of one another.  
  
"Why is he in the West Bank, Chief?" Ivy asked.  
  
"What better place to hide an arms dealer than the middle of the war zone. He's sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and is fervently anti-Israeli, so he's got some sympathetic friends there. So your assignment is to track down and capture Aziz Parhouz." Grant Wells said, "You have the Tel Aviv ACME Field Office and several former ACME detectives on both sides to help you out."  
  
"When do we leave?" Hal asked.  
  
"First thing tomorrow morning." Wells replied, "Any more questions?"  
  
When neither of them replied, Wells dismissed them and they walked out into the hallway.  
  
"Well, are you up to a rematch, Ninja Girl?" Hal asked her.  
  
"Hal," Ivy said, with a wicked grin, "You've just signed your own death warrant.  
  
"I take it the knee isn't bothering you this time?" Hal asked.  
  
"Not at all, and if you try to take it easy on me because of it, you're going flat on your six." Ivy replied.  
  
"Is that a threat?" Hal replied.  
  
"It's a promise." Ivy replied.  
  
"Hal, take it from me." Zack said as he limped out of the lab on crutches, "You're dead."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Ready. Go." Corso shouted, and promptly backed out of the circle where Hal and Ivy were about to spar each other.  
  
Again they circled each other tentatively, both of them launching probing strikes that were either blocked or dodged. Someone had to commit to the first strike and take the offensive. Hal thought he saw an opening and went for it, kicking out with his right foot.  
  
Ivy dodged the kick by a millimeter and sent a roundhouse into Hal's ribcage. Hal buckled slightly, moving off and circling to the right.  
  
"Point. Darren." Corso said. The Delta Force major was serving as the referee for any of Hal and Ivy's sparring matches.  
  
Hal recovered faster than Ivy expected, because he blocked her next strike and hit back with a knee kick of his own that staggered Ivy back a pace. "Point. Olden."  
  
Ivy could see Hal was starting to get cocky, because he was launching several kicks that she managed to block but kept her at a distance. Shouts of points for both Ivy and Hal were echoing, with both of them winding up dead even.  
  
"This last point determines the match." Corso said, the fight having already gone on for a good ten minutes.  
  
Hal, hearing this, struck out with the heel of his palm. Ivy caught him by the wrist and threw him over her shoulder, making him land, dazed, on his back.  
  
"Match, Darren." Corso announced.  
  
"Way to go Ivy!" Tatiana said, "Phil, pay up."  
  
"Damn it." The balding Delta Force sniper said, as he forked over the forty bucks he owed.  
  
Money changed hands as Ivy and Hal bowed to each other and Ivy said, "Not to bad of a strategy there, Limey, keeping me at a distance."  
  
"Thank you." Hal replied.  
  
"Well, I'm off to go back home and get some sleep." Ivy said, "We've got an early flight."  
  
"I know that." Hal replied, "Do you have your bag packed?"  
  
"I always have a bag packed, in case of something like this going on."  
  
"I live closer to the airport than you do, however, so to save time, why don't you spend the night?" Hal replied. At this he blushed as Ivy stopped and stared at him, mouth agape.  
  
"Hal, did you just proposition me?" Ivy asked.  
  
"No, I didn't." Hal replied, "I'm simply saying, to save us some time, knowing how timeliness is one of your main virtues, feel free to spend the night."  
  
"Still, someone might get the wrong idea." Ivy replied.  
  
"Right." Hal replied, thinking, 'Oh that was smart....Invite your partner to spend the night not more than a few days after you had a snag in a budding friendship...For a smart man, you're an idiot Olden.'  
  
'Hal, for God's sake, that was one tempting offer.' Ivy thought, replying, "No thanks, pick me up at five o'clock tomorrow morning, and don't be late."  
  
"I won't be, knowing you, you'll likely call me an hour before I'm due to make sure I'm getting ready to get over there." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	30. Case 4: Masada, Part 3

Case 4: Masada, Part 3  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. My updates will be slower in coming, as I've now started my fourth semester in college and my second as a sophomore.  
  
Steve1's fanfic Loneliness inspired the references to Jay you hear about in this story.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
25 May 2000: By the time Hal and Ivy arrived in Tel Aviv the sun was already setting over the horizon. They took a taxi cab to the hotel and Ivy immediately noticed the tell tale bulge of a 9mm pistol under the cab driver's t-shirt.  
  
"Hal?" Ivy asked.  
  
"That's the way of life around here Ivy, most blokes in Israel carry concealed weapons due to those blasted Palestinian terror organizations." Hal replied.  
  
They reached the Hilton hotel where they headed to the check in desk. The clerk, a woman in her mid-thirties with plenty of Arab in her family tree, gave them a room number.  
  
"Room Number 272." The woman said, handing Hal his key.  
  
"What about my room?" Ivy asked, "Is there a room for Ivy Darren on your list?"  
  
"No, ma'am, I'm sorry. You are staying in Room 272 as well." The woman said.  
  
"What? There has to be some mistake!" Ivy protested.  
  
"I thought Tatiana booked us for two rooms!" Hal added.  
  
The woman was mystified, how on earth were these two intimate if they didn't want to share a room. It took all kinds to make a world, she shrugged and said, "Here are your keys. Do you have any other baggage?"  
  
"No." Both of them replied.  
  
"It's either that or sleep in the streets." Hal quipped, "I'm calling Wells over this."  
  
He pulled his cell phone free and dialed the number, "Chief, there must be some mistake."  
  
"What did he say?" Ivy asked.  
  
"I just got an earful about just sucking it up and taking it. Also there was no room in this hotel and Wells said that the Marriott in Jerusalem is too close to Palestinian territory for our purposes...." Hal began awkwardly.  
  
"Hal, we're both adults here, we can share the same hotel room." Ivy said.  
  
"Right," Hal sighed, as he dug his keycard out and opened the hotel room up, "The bed's yours."  
  
"Hal, that couch doesn't look too comfortable." Ivy observed, "I'd feel better if you took the bed."  
  
"I'd feel better if you took the bed, Ivy." Hal countered, "I've slept in worse places before. Foremost among them a bouncing Land Rover going through the hinterlands of South Africa."  
  
"Hal, for God's sake, we have a bed that's large enough for both of us. We're both adults, and if you try any funny business you know I could break your hand in a few places." Ivy replied.  
  
"Right. I understand. Do you want the shower first?" Hal asked.  
  
"If you don't mind." Ivy said.  
  
"Not at all." Hal replied. As Ivy walked into the bathroom, Hal turned on CNN and watched the news on what was going on in the Gaza Strip and West Bank area. After about forty-five minutes Hal grabbed his toiletry kit and towel and headed for the shower when he heard the door open.  
  
After having showered and thrown on a pair of shorts and his United Kingdom Rugby t-shirt. He knocked on the bedroom door and Ivy let him in. His eyes nearly went wide when he saw her. Ivy wore a blue silk night shirt that terminated at just above her mid thigh. It showed her long, well defined legs and hung loosely off her frame yet it complemented the curves of her body rather than hiding them.  
  
Both of them climbed into opposite sides of the bed. Hal faced outward, towards the window. He tried five times in twenty minutes to fall asleep, but it seemed that he couldn't. Ivy was asleep before she even hit the pillow. He had to chuckle lightly at that one, and he turned towards her, watching her still form.  
  
'God I feel like such a bloody pervert. Great job Olden, you enjoy watching your partner while she's asleep.' Hal thought, 'Though she does look so peaceful, so fragile, and even more beautiful than she is when she's awake. Where the bloody hell did that come from?'  
  
Hal turned his back to Ivy and tried again to fall asleep. 'For Christ's sake, you're not a bloody hormone driven teenager. You shouldn't be so....'  
  
Ivy was muttering something or other and it seemed to be causing her some distress. "No, please don't leave! Oh please....Jay, don't do this to me..."  
  
"Ivy?" Hal asked, "Are you alright?"  
  
'You bloody wanker, of course she's not alright, can't you see she's hurting.' Hal thought, 'All the more reason she needs a friend, not a lover.'  
  
Hal turned back towards her, Ivy was stirring in her sleep. "Jay, please, we can make this work. Don't go, please..." Ivy muttered.  
  
"Ivy, you're having a nightmare." Hal replied. His words had no effect that he could see. He wanted so desperately to just hold her, reassure her that everything was fine now. Short of waking her up, he only had one other option.  
  
Hal moved closer to Ivy, taking her gently in his arms, speaking in a soothing tone. "It's alright. You'll be fine."  
  
Ivy's eyelids fluttered open and in their closeness he could smell the vanilla body wash she used that night. "Hal?"  
  
"You were having a nightmare." Hal said, gulping audibly, "I shouldn't have done that."  
  
"No." Ivy replied, smiling sweetly, "I needed that."  
  
Ivy returned his embrace. Hal felt his pulse rate quicken. "Just hold me for a little longer, ok?" Ivy asked him. Hal could see the incredibly vulnerability in her eyes and it awakened some protective instinct in him.  
  
"OK." Hal said, holding her close. He heard Ivy sigh contentedly as she fell asleep. Whoever this Jay fellow was must've really hurt her badly. 'If I meet this Jay fellow somewhere I'll punch his lights out.' Hal thought, 'Should I really be enjoying this as much as I am?'  
  
Hal could feel the gentle swelling of her breasts against his torso as he held her, and he could tell she had decided to forgo wearing a bra for that evening. The even sound of Ivy's breathing told him she was asleep and began to lull Hal towards a similar venue as he felt his eyelids get heavy and he fell asleep.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
26 May 2000: The sunlight streamed through the window and Hal felt his eyelids flutter open. He could feel Ivy curled up against his left side with his arm around her waistline. Hal had decided he could go for an extra few minutes of sleep when Ivy woke up.  
  
"Hal, we've got to meet our contact in half an hour. Wake up." Ivy said.  
  
Hal mock groaned and flexed his left hand. Ivy's weight on it for much of the night had left a very bad case of pins and needles. Hal stood up from the bed and got dressed and saw Ivy at the door, her arms folded across her chest, tapping her foot with an enigmatic half smile.  
  
"Hal, you're the last person I'd put on my list of morning people." Ivy replied.  
  
Hal gave her his trademark grin and he opened the room door for her as they headed for the elevator and down to the lobby to take part in the continental breakfast. As they sat at the table, Hal chose to break the silence.  
  
"So who's Jay?" Hal asked, "If you don't mind me asking."  
  
"He and I were very close, since I was sixteen." Ivy said, with a sad smile, "We separated a year later, because he was moving to New York, and I was going to ACME. But he joined ACME two years later and we got back together."  
  
"Really?" Hal replied, "What happened?"  
  
"We dated for about five years after that. It was a relationship that had its moments, we had our fights and our good times, but I thought he was the one. Then around my twenty-fifth birthday we had our last big fight. He and I hardly spent any time together that year and I complained. Then the big shocker hit, he was moving to Australia and wanted me to accompany him. I didn't want to leave San Francisco, I really didn't, I am just so comfortable there, my family my best friends, they're all there." Ivy began, as she did, she started to sound very emotional.  
  
"You don't have to continue if you don't want to tell me any more of it." Hal replied.  
  
"No, I need to talk to someone about this." Ivy replied, "Anyway. He countered he was making the move because Australia was a good place to maybe start a family and I should be a big girl about this and just go along with it. I countered he was finding his career more important than me. We fought about this all day and then he walked out the door and was on a plane to Sydney the next day. We haven't seen each other since."  
  
"What a wanker." Hal replied, frankly, "If he really loved you he'd have been willing to compromise."  
  
'Great job Olden. Open mouth, insert foot.' Hal thought, 'Now you've really put her off.'  
  
Instead Ivy softened and said, "So let me ask you this: if Diane didn't want to move and you got an offer to go somewhere to further your career, what would you have done?"  
  
"I'd have talked with her, hear how she felt, and if she felt that strongly about moving I'd try to find a compromise or not have taken that step." Hal replied.  
  
"About what you did for me last night," Ivy began, "I want to thank you. I'm glad you're there for me."  
  
"Hey, you've been there for me just as well, you stopped me from killing Holbarth. Though I had to screw things up by..." Hal replied.  
  
"Kissing me like I was Diane. Hal, I've forgiven you for that already, quit apologizing." Ivy replied.  
  
"Detective Olden? Detective Darren?" said a voice, "I'm Chief Inspector Rosenthal, ACME Tel Aviv Field Office."  
  
They turned to see an older Israeli man heading their way, wearing a business suit with a uniformed Israeli soldier with a brown beret atop his head. "This is Andrew Demerest, Israeli Special Forces. I feel he is most qualified to assist in your investigation."  
  
As Rosenthal spoke, he indicated the Israeli soldier, his complexion darkly sun tanned from days under the blazing sun. His olive drab fatigues were serviceable, but well worn. His brown beret bore the cap badge of the Golani Infantry Brigade, Israel's most elite infantry brigade.  
  
Demerest stepped forward, even off duty he carried his CAR-15 with three magazines taped end over end. Noticing Ivy's raised eyebrow he said, "It's a fact of life in Israel that soldiers walk around armed, even off duty."  
  
Andrew Demerest was a medium built fellow, about twenty-one years old, with close cropped black hair and thoughtful brown eyes. He was a compact fellow, his musculature strengthened by his nearly two years in the Israeli Army. As she looked at him, Ivy could see a small picture of Jackie Harris taped to the side of his rifle.  
  
Apparently Demerest hadn't forgotten the reason he'd left ACME to join the Israeli Army. Looking into his eyes, Ivy could see that Demerest still loved Jackie. 'It really must be killing him to know that Jackie and Chris are a happy couple.' Ivy thought, 'He should at least tell Jackie how he feels about her.'  
  
"You used to be Jackie's mentor, right?" Demerest asked Ivy.  
  
"Yeah." Ivy replied.  
  
"How is she?" Demerest asked.  
  
"She's doing fine." Ivy began, "She worries about you, you know."  
  
"I know. The life of a soldier is an inherently risky profession." Demerest replied, seeming surprised at that fact, "But she now has Chris in her life, and the profession of the soldier is all that remains for me."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC (Don't worry, the whole Demerest-Jackie story line will develop in later chapters.) 


	31. Case 4: Masada, Part 4

Case 4: Masada, Part 4  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. ACME uses the 24 hour time scale, like the military does.  
  
C.J. Sandiego - I'm not that far removed from plot contrivances, but I figured I'd give little morsels to any Ivy/Hal shippers to enjoy as a pleasant diversion to the plot. Please forgive me if I choose to deepen Demerest's character a bit.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
ACME HQ, 1100 Local Time  
  
26 May 2000: Jackie Harris filed yet another bit of paperwork. Her case had been solved and Chris was planning to take her out to lunch to celebrate. She had gotten a short phone call from Ivy saying that she had run into Andrew Demerest. She had to smile at that, a bittersweet grin. Andrew was a good friend of hers, they still wrote each other, but it wasn't anything like face to face contact.  
  
'You saw he was hurting deeply when he left for Israel over a year ago. Why didn't you insist he answer the question?' Jackie thought, 'He was always a kind, caring, if slightly eccentric fellow. Why did he leave?'  
  
She glanced at a picture on her desk of her and Andrew at a San Francisco 49ers game about four months before he left to Israel. He seemed so happy in that picture, so removed from the man who regarded her with the eyes of one broken emotionally. His normally happy disposition seemed to have forsaken him that day at the airport, it was as if there was something on the tip of his tongue, but something he didn't say.  
  
Jackie wandered out into the hallway to head for the bullpen to retrieve that yogurt she had put in there earlier. She was so lost in her thoughts she ran right into Tatiana. "Oh, I'm sorry." Jackie said.  
  
Tatiana said to the smaller brunette woman, "Oh it's alright. You seemed pretty lost in thought. Are you OK?"  
  
"I am, it's just that I was thinking of a friend of mine." Jackie said, "The last time we saw each other was over a year ago, before he left for Israel."  
  
"You mean Andrew Demerest?" Tatiana asked. She knew Demerest as one of the more promising junior detectives in his class.  
  
"Yes." Jackie began, "The last four months before we left, I knew something was wrong but he didn't want to tell me. Why would he turn away from a friend like that?"  
  
"Maybe he didn't want to involve you, or hurt you." Tatiana replied, 'Actually the man was in love with you for way longer than Chris. Why can't you see it? Didn't you see the pain in his eyes the day before he left.'  
  
At the same time Chris Osteen talked to Zack as they walked out of the Crime Lab. "Hey Zack, what's the story with Jackie and Andrew?"  
  
"They're good friends." Zack asked, "Why?"  
  
"I think I may be slightly jealous of that. I mean she almost always wonders why he left. She was confused the first few months of our relationship, with Demerest's little gestures." Chris replied.  
  
"Which ones?" Zack asked.  
  
"The compilation CDs he gave her occasionally, the fact that if she seemed to have any sort of problem he was willing to drop what he was doing to help her out...." Chris said.  
  
"They're good friends." Zack said, "Nothing to be alarmed about. That's what friends do for each other."  
  
"He obviously resented me. I could see it in his eyes. Even though he tried to play the clown and say nothing was wrong, he was hiding something and I knew it." Chris said.  
  
They ran into Zack and Tatiana and Chris gave his girlfriend, Jackie, a hug and said, "So are we still on for lunch?"  
  
"Sure." Jackie said, smiling.  
  
As they left, Tatiana said, "It must have killed Demerest to see them like that."  
  
Jackie and Chris walked arm in arm with an easy banter of a close couple. Zack imagined that as tough as the Israeli sleuth was, this pain he hid day in and day out was too much to bear.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Demerest walked beside Ivy and Hal as they headed for a car that would drive them to Masada where a contact desired to meet them concerning Parhouz's whereabouts.  
  
As they neared the ruins of the ancient fort atop a steep plateau Demerest said, "During basic training, all Israeli recruits are taken here, to a revered site in our culture. It was here that rather than surrender to the Romans a band of Jewish zealots chose mass suicide. It is a symbol of defiance and courage against all odds."  
  
Demerest's tone was a serious one as he stood atop the fortress, watching an Israeli officer talking to a cluster of about forty young men sitting in the open air forum's ruins. The forty young men were to be future soldiers of the Israeli Army, kitted out in olive fatigues and desert tan hats. Strange, almost two years earlier that had been him.  
  
"Our contact's not due for another hour, why are we here so early?" Ivy said, not even looking at her watch.  
  
"Ivy, how you manage to tell time without even looking at a clock or your watch amazes me." Hal replied.  
  
"Two reasons, one I'd like to make sure that we don't get any unexpected surprises. And two, is a personal reason." Demerest replied.  
  
"Why is that?" Hal asked.  
  
"I sometimes come out here, when time permits, just staring out at the vast desert, contemplating this revered event in Israeli history, and thus my own history." Demerest replied. Looking into his eyes, Ivy could again see the animal pain that had driven him from ACME.  
  
"So you'd martyr yourself over her?" Hal asked Demerest.  
  
"I beg your pardon, sir." Demerest replied coldly.  
  
"Isn't that why you left? Because you couldn't stand to watch Jackie and Chris together, you knew leaving was your only alternative." Hal replied.  
  
"Yes sir." Demerest replied, his stern reply hiding the pain inside, "I've got nothing remaining to me, so if I should die, nothing would matter."  
  
"So you're willing to just sacrifice yourself, Andrew." Ivy replied, "You're a young man, almost twenty-one now. You've got your whole life ahead of you."  
  
"I've got nothing left." Demerest replied, simply as he turned away, standing with one foot atop a massive stone block, his CAR-15 slung but easily accessible. He looked every bit the impassive Israeli Special Forces soldier, with his Golani beret, dark sunglasses, well used assault rifle, fatigues and brown paratrooper boots, but inside he was still battling his inner demons.  
  
"Imagine being told much of your life you'd never amount to anything. Where affection of any sort was a dim and distant memory..." Demerest replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
(San Francisco)  
  
Zack and Tatiana had gone off on their lunch break and went to eat at a moderately priced Greek restaurant that had opened up a few blocks away. As they waited for their orders, they talked about The Dinner.  
  
"So you're sure that you're coming?" Tatiana asked Zack.  
  
"Honey, we've been over this." Zack said, "I'll be there with you tonight. I'm your fiancé, your future husband. I love you, remember?"  
  
A tear flowed down Tatiana's face as she smiled, "Zack, I know that. I'm pregnant, remember, my hormones are acting up. I just hope my grandmother doesn't get mad when I tell her about this."  
  
"Even if she is, she'll get over it. Trust me, I'm not looking forward to telling my parents either." Zack replied, "I mean, I know Mom and Dad know we're grown ups, but I'm pretty sure they'll...."  
  
"Zackary Darren, you've got nothing to worry about!" Tatiana exclaimed, "It's not as if we were a couple sixteen year olds who made a mistake. We're getting married, remember."  
  
"I made sure our reservation is in place." Zack replied, "It's sure that our families are coming. Look, even if our parents are mad, I still love you and I support you no matter what. That is our child and he's a gift, no matter where he came from."  
  
"I know." Tatiana said, playfully adding, "She is a gift. No matter where she came from, she is a gift."  
  
"Well we'll figure it out soon enough after we move into our new house. It's in San Jose, in a nice little residential district." Zack replied, "I'm already talking to Armando about hiring his cousin, who's an interior decorator, to model the new baby's room. And I'm not sure whether to paint the walls blue or pink. I'll figure that our once we've found out the kid's gender."  
  
"Zack, why don't you just move in?" Tatiana said, "To my apartment I mean, until we get moved into the new house. I mean you practically already live there."  
  
"Tatiana, I'm down the hall from you, it's not that big a deal spending the night at your place or you spending it at mine." Zack replied, "But the idea does have some merit, I mean we're not due to move into the new house for another six months."  
  
"Zack, you're right, we are moving into our new place in six months. I can't believe we're actually gonna have our own house soon." Tatiana replied, "Excuse me."  
  
Tatiana bolted up faster than humanly possible and raced off into the bathroom. "Morning sickness." Zack groaned, "One more month of it. And seven more of weird cravings and racing around town to find stuff. But boy was Honolulu a lot of fun..."  
  
Zack was referring to that case that he and Tatiana had served early and courtesy of Wells had been granted an unexpected holiday in Hawaii. That had been four days worth of lying on the beach, room service, and quite a bit of time in each others arms in and out of bed. Plus one or two midnight swims in the Pacific. Zack was smiling when he was imagining that night where he and Tatiana had first made love. It was a slow, passionate love making affair, after a meal at the Charthouse and a walk on the beach. He remembered sliding her dress tenderly off her body and....  
  
"Zack," Tatiana said, "ZACK."  
  
"Whoa! That got my attention, what's up?" Zack said.  
  
"You just looked like you were dreaming." Tatiana said.  
  
"I was dreaming about a beautiful, exotic blonde I knew." Zack said, slyly.  
  
Playing along, Tatiana said, "Do I know her."  
  
"Oh yes." Zack replied, "She's good with her hands, has a lovely body, gets really wild after a few daiquiris...."  
  
Tatiana playfully slapped her mate, "Zack, you are NOT funny."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Corporal Demerest ?" A voice asked.  
  
"That's me." Demerest replied, making sure his weapon was readily accessible.  
  
A female Israeli soldier approached them. She wore the uniform of the Lochamot MAGAV (Female officers of the Israeli Border Police). "I am Elsa Neuman," the woman said, "I'm your contact here."  
  
"What was the name of 21 SAS, originally?" Hal asked, this was a test to figure out the veracity of their contact, who would have been briefed on the word.  
  
"The Artist's Rifles." Elsa replied, the correct code word.  
  
"Right." Hal replied, "What do you know about the activities of Parhouz?"  
  
"He has a tendency to practically give away weapons to the Palestinian terrorist groups." Elsa replied, "It is not safe to talk of things of this nature here. Perhaps it would be best if we headed for the station."  
  
Elsa led the way to her jeep. Ivy noticed that Elsa was also armed as well with an M-16 and wore a bullet proof vest. She was a beautiful, ginger haired woman of nineteen years, her fatigues, body armor and weapon did nothing to hide it.  
  
'Does anyone in Israel not carry a weapon?' Ivy thought. The 9mm Beretta pistol she carried under her loose fitting shirt was digging into her hip. This case had been classified as a Code Blue, meaning the detectives placed in the field were to be armed with sidearms.  
  
Ivy had gotten some tips on pistol concealment from Hal, who had learned those tips from years with the SAS. If she didn't know that Hal had the pistol hidden under his shirt, in the waistband of his jeans, she wouldn't have guessed he was armed.  
  
"Hey, are you alright Ninja Girl, you seem a bit distracted?" Hal asked.  
  
"I'm fine, Hal, really. I'm just kinda weirded out by the fact that...." Ivy said.  
  
"Everyone and his mother carries a gun." Hal replied, "Sadly that's the way of life in this part of the world. The only place in the world where I go to a Catholic service and I see the priest is wearing combat fatigues under his robes and has an M-16 with three magazines taped together under his pulpet. I spent a year over here training the Israeli Special Forces."  
  
As they got into the jeep and drove down a street in Tel Aviv, Ivy could see several off duty Israeli policemen and soldiers. In uniform the soldiers carried their rifles with at least three magazines of ammunition and in civvies they had pistols hidden under their clothing. The whole thing was damned disturbing, how was Hal so calm in the midst of all this. She regarded him for a minute, he was impassive, wearing his green checkered shirt over a blue United Kingdom World Cup t-shirt and jeans and his Oakley's. She could sniff that unique blend of sweat, Old Spice aftershave and cologne that Hal usually wore. She first thought it an odd combination but later grew to love that smell.  
  
Hal looked at Ivy. She seemed worried, but still confident in her abilities. After last night he could see just how vulnerable she was underneath that tough, professional air she had at work. Holding her tenderly in his arms last night felt good, but what felt better was seeing how peaceful it made her feel. He could still remember that sleepy smile she gave him when he hugged her close last night.  
  
'Bloody Hell.' Hal thought, 'What the hell are you thinking? She's your partner and your friend for Christ's sake. You've already hurt her enough, Olden.'  
  
'Hmm, he's wearing that cologne again. I love that smell. Down, Darren, you're a grown woman, not a hormone crazed teenager. Last night felt right though, lying in each others arms, the way he held you saying he'd be there for you whenever you needed him....' Ivy thought, 'I wonder what he's thinking? Those eyes of his are so unreadable under those sunglasses.'  
  
Hal regarded Ivy again and for some reason felt this protective urge for her. It had been like that practically since they first met. At first he figured it was because of her resemblance to Diane, even though Ivy was nothing like the woman she so uncannily resembled. Ever since the InGen case this protective instinct she inspired in him always got stronger, even though he'd since released Diane's ghost.  
  
'What is it about her that makes you do this anyway, Olden?' Hal thought, as the jeep stopped at the station, 'I mean she's a grown woman, who can stand a chance of beating you in a fight. That's precisely it, she's strong, yet so vulnerable as well. You found that out last night. Whatever it is, I'd best watch her back as well as your own, because if she gets hurt I'll never forgive myself.'  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	32. Case 4: Masada, Part 5

Case 4: Masada, Part 5  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
C.J. Sandiego - Please remember the InGen Conspiracy Case.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
San Francisco, 1600 Local Time  
  
"Ready hon?" Zack asked Tatiana as they watered some plants in Ivy's apartment, careful not to dirty her beige carpet.  
  
"In a bit." Tatiana replied as she watered a small orchid Ivy had in the window, "Oh, look at this."  
  
"What?" Zack said, "I don't think I'd want Ivy mad at me for invading her privacy."  
  
"It's on a shelf in the living room." Tatiana replied. Zack was in the small kitchenette area, closest to the door and he walked in to see what his fiancée was gawking about.  
  
On top of a shelf in the living room, next to several books and a couple awards from various competitions Ivy had won was a framed photograph. It was a picture of Hal and Ivy standing next to each other, arm in arm. Both of them were dressed up, with Ivy wearing her wine red dress and Hal a black three piece suit with a sky blue shirt and tie. Both of them were smiling about something or other.  
  
"Isn't this cute Zack?" Tatiana asked.  
  
"Yeah, it's from when Hal and Ivy solved that case in Jurassic Park earlier this month. It's from that dance competition they won." Zack said, then raised his eyebrow saying, "Why?"  
  
"I'm just saying they make a cute couple. It's a real nice picture. And wasn't there a trophy on that shelf last week?" Tatiana asked.  
  
"There was, it's just that Hal and Ivy exchange which one has the picture and which has the trophy every week." Zack replied.  
  
"Do you think Hal likes her?" Tatiana asked.  
  
"Ivy says they're just friends." Zack said, "I'm not sure about Hal though. It's to be a very long story about how Ivy looks just like someone he loved who was murdered last year. She was an ACME detective too, named Diane."  
  
"I know, Ivy told me all about that." Tatiana said, "They're just friends, however, I think they could work as a couple."  
  
"So that's why you booked them together in one room?" Zack said, rolling his eyes, "Don't rush things like that. You know if Hal does try something Ivy would break his arm in four places."  
  
"Please, I don't think either of them will try anything. But I'm hoping the enforced proximity plants the seed." Tatiana replied, "Anyway, there weren't many other hotels in Tel Aviv."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Israeli Border Police HQ, Tel Aviv  
  
26 May 2000: Elsa Neuman sat across from Hal and Ivy with Demerest hovering behind them in the conference room of the headquarters building of the Israeli Border Police. Her ginger hair was done up so it fit neatly underneath her helmet which lay at her side. Her own rifle wasn't more than an arm's length away.  
  
"So what do you know of Parhouz's activities?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Well, ma'am, I was on patrol in the Sinai Desert ten days ago when we intercepted a truck that had crossed our border from Egypt, ostensibly carrying a water tank. We inspected it and discovered a large cache of weapons of various kinds. After the driver was interrogated we discovered that the weapons were supplied by a 'Friend of Palestinian Liberation' in exchange for sanctuary in Palestinian territory." Elsa began.  
  
"How did you know it was Parhouz?" Hal asked.  
  
"A few days later two of our undercover agents from Unit YAMAS identified a bearded fellow with a scar running down his left cheek." Elsa replied, "We forwarded the information to a nearby unit. We found his safe house deserted but booby trapped several stores of ammunition."  
  
"YAMAS?" Ivy asked.  
  
"It's an Israeli undercover counterterrorism unit attached to the Israeli Border Police, the MAGAV." Hal replied, at Elsa and Andrew's quizzical looks he added, "I was here a four man SAS detachment teaching your blokes in your Special Command Teams a thing or two about off road desert driving and tactical maneuvers."  
  
"You are SAS?" Elsa asked.  
  
"Yes." Hal asked.  
  
"What are you doing in ACME then?" Demerest asked.  
  
"My exchange tour." Hal replied, "They sent me to ACME when I was working with the US Army Delta Force unit as part of a four man unit helping ACME boost its counter terrorism abilities."  
  
"Anyway, back to the case." Ivy said, "How did you identify Parhouz?"  
  
"It was after we booby trapped some weapons and set up a surveillance operation was when we caught his picture on film." Elsa said.  
  
"An advanced for of jarking, nice." Hal replied, at Ivy's quizzical look he added, "We used to put tracking devices on weapons' caches we discovered in Northern Ireland. Their idea of jarking, however consists of putting rounds that explode as soon as the trigger is pulled into weapons."  
  
"Yes." Elsa replied, with an ironic smile, "And so far we found eight Arab terrorists whose AK-47s mysteriously exploded into their faces. And as I analyzed photographs, which is my job, I forwarded copies to ACME. It seems that we have someone on the inside giving information to Parhouz and that's why we've been unable to catch him."  
  
"Sadly we never were allowed to do that in Northern Ireland. It would have rid us of a few terrorist wankers." Hal replied.  
  
"So Parhouz hasn't been able to leave the Occupied Territories" Ivy asked.  
  
"So far he's been contained. We have checkpoints, dogs and assorted units surrounding the area. He'd be a fool to try anything." Andrew replied.  
  
"He just somehow, conveniently, avoids being captured by Israeli raids. What is so important about this guy anyway? He seems like he's one of Maelstrom's weapon traders, but that's all." Ivy asked.  
  
"He's wanted for a number of bombings throughout Britain, Europe, and Israeli. About a dozen countries including Germany, France, Italy and the UK have warrants for his arrest." Hal replied, "I lost a mate of mine trying to capture Parhouz in Northern Ireland three years ago."  
  
"Maelstrom must be recruiting down here. For what I can't imagine." Ivy began, "But it seems to be the place to get one or two expert bomb makers in a hurry to..."  
  
"The trouble is what could Maelstrom be targeting? And Parhouz, if we capture him he should be able to find out Maelstrom's plans and delay if not stop them." Hal began.  
  
They walked outside and just then a trio of masked men armed with AK-47 appeared. Hal shoved Ivy out of the way and then drew his sidearm swiftly and shot the first one twice in the chest and once in the throat. Demerest shot the second down with two rounds to the stomach. As the third opened fire the breach of his weapon exploded, propelling the bolt backward, into his face with such force that the metal object was solidly lodged in his brain.  
  
The surviving terrorist was reaching for a hand grenade as Hal, Demerest, and Elsa were checking the two dead ones. Ivy swiftly drew her own sidearm and shot him. She had weapons training, to be sure, but this was the first time she had ever shot anyone. It had all been due to training and reflex action, she had no time to think.  
  
Back at their hotel room, Hal and Ivy were going through copies of the documents Elsa had translated and printed out for them. Hal couldn't help but notice Ivy seemed more than a bit subdued.  
  
"Are you alright?" Hal asked.  
  
"I'm fine." Ivy replied.  
  
"Hey, I know how you feel. After the adrenaline rush, you realize what you've done." Hal replied.  
  
"So when did you....?" Ivy began.  
  
"First kill a man?" Hal replied, "It was shortly after my eighteenth birthday in Northern Ireland. It was an IRA gunman who'd been responsible for the deaths of several British soldiers over the past decade. I spent six days tracking him, memorizing his routes, picking out his hides. I found where he was firing from after the fifth day, and my spotter radioed in his location. We had our orders, shoot to kill. As he set his rifle up to fire on a border checkpoint I centered my crosshairs on his face."  
  
Ivy noticed Hal's eyes took a frighteningly faraway look, as if even almost a decade later he was reliving a moment that heralded a point of no return. She could see that Hal relived the moment where he had first killed another human being.  
  
"I could see he was married by the ring on his finger." Hal continued, "I could tell he hadn't shaved that morning, or for the past five. I centered the crosshairs on his head and I slowly squeezed the trigger, breathing slowly, and surprising myself with the rifle recoil. I could tell that I had killed him off the bat, because I saw blood erupt from his head and saw him pitch backward. That was the first sight picture, and it wasn't the last."  
  
"How do you live with that?" Ivy asked, emotion tingeing her voice.  
  
"I relied on the knowledge that they'd do the same to me in a heartbeat. But it doesn't help that I see their faces every time I close my eyes." Hal replied, "So you see, Ivy, you have an advantage. You killed that terrorist in self defense, you'll get it out of your system. That's radically different than killing a man in cold blood. I know a mate of mine on my old sniper unit with the Royal Marines, he got locked up in a mental hospital because he couldn't deal with the nightmares, the cold sweats, the strain of being a sniper."  
  
Hal had tenderly put his arm around her shoulders as she said, "But that man could have been a husband, a father.....definitely someone's son."  
  
"I know." Hal replied. As Ivy looked at Hal, into his eyes, she could see a soldier with years of combat under his belt.  
  
"But why do I feel guilty?" Ivy asked, she sounded unsure of herself and that alone was unsettling for Hal.  
  
"You're a human being, you just killed another person. You do feel that way." Hal replied, "The worst thing you can do is go numb and feel nothing for what you've done. That's when blokes go to the mental hospitals."  
  
"Why do I feel....?" Ivy asked. Hal instinctively put his arms around her as she sobbed into his shoulder. He could feel tears soak through the material of his shirt.  
  
"Hey, it's alright." Hal said, soothingly, "It will pass. You know that you saved my life, Elsa's and Demerest's when you shot that terrorist."  
  
Ivy looked up at him, with a weak smile, "I guess even the SAS need people to watch their backs."  
  
"You're right. We're just as human as the rest of you." Hal replied.  
  
"What time is it, by the way?" Ivy asked.  
  
"Ivy, if you're asking ME for the time, then something really must be wrong. I mean your internal clock is practically flawless. You'll have to tell me how you do that someday." Hal replied, "It's almost 0200."  
  
"No wonder I'm tired." Ivy yawned, as she changed into her night shirt.  
  
Hal averted his eyes as she did so, but Ivy had already had her shirt over her head and Hal could see that she'd chosen to wear black under her clothes that day. 'I definitely shouldn't be feeling this way.' Hal thought, feeling blood from his head moving to someplace lower, 'She's vulnerable right now. I shouldn't be thinking about what I'm thinking. Wanker.'  
  
"Hal, it should be seventeen hundred right now." Ivy said, buttoning her shirt up.  
  
"Oh you mean, Zack and Tatiana have their big dinner, when they tell your parents and hers about their wild weekend in Hawaii." Hal replied as he removed his collared shirt and undershirt.  
  
Ivy couldn't help but stare for a bit. Hal was lean and fit, from years in the British Royal Marines and later the Special Air Service, 22 SAS. She certainly was admiring the view before she averted her own eyes, frankly she knew that Hal had stared a little long when she slid her shirt over her head, and she was flattered. Honestly.  
  
'Hmm, I don't think I'd mind taking our sleeping arrangement a little farther than last night.' Ivy thought, 'Wait a minute, Darren, slow down! Remember we agreed to stay friends for now...'  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, 1700 Local Time  
  
"Zackary, what's the occasion?" Detective Robert Darren, San Francisco Police Department, Zack's father, said.  
  
"You'll find out shortly Dad." Zack replied, gulping.  
  
"Tatiana?" Mrs. Rossovsky said, "Why are we here? What's the occasion?"  
  
As the salad was served, and soup was finished Tatiana and Zack sat beside each other. Zack slid his hand onto his fiancée's. The main course was uneventful with lighthearted banter and talk. But one could easily sense the tension in the air. The two sets of parents knew that there was something amiss, but they couldn't put their fingers on it.  
  
After the main course was served and the families had eaten, Tatiana found her courage as Zack gently squeezed her hand. "Everyone, I have an announcement to make."  
  
Tatiana gulped audibly and blinked her eyes nervously, "When Zack and I were in Hawaii a month ago, something came up."  
  
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Mrs. Rossovsky said.  
  
Tatiana stood up and said, "I'm pregnant. One month so far."  
  
At this Tatiana's mother grew pale, "How could you DO this!"  
  
"Mother, it was an accident...." Tatiana began.  
  
"How could you do this?" Tatiana's mother continued.  
  
"Mrs. Rossovsky, I am appalled." Zack said, "She's your daughter, she may be carrying a child, out of wedlock. But she's our child. And your grandchild, and I wish you'd be less harsh with her."  
  
"Mrs. Rossovsky, while I don't condone my son's actions...."  
  
"Bob..." Rosalyn Darren, Zack and Ivy's mother, began.  
  
"It's okay Rosalyn." Bob said, "While I don't approve of our son's actions but..."  
  
"You DON'T APPROVE!" Mrs. Rossovsky shouted, "YOU DON'T APPROVE! OUR DAUGHTER HAS....."  
  
"Rudina, calm down." Mr. Rossovsky began, "You're hurting our daughter."  
  
Tears appeared in Tatiana's eyes, "Mother, this child is you grandchild. Will this scorn be directed at your own grandchild?"  
  
Zack held Tatiana tenderly, appalled at his future mother-in-law's vitriol. "I intend to marry your daughter, and be a father to my, excuse me, our child. It doesn't matter how he was conceived...."  
  
"You say this as a crude excuse..." Rudina replied.  
  
"Please, son," Rosalyn said, "Tell us how this began."  
  
"It all started in Hawaii, when we got an unexpected four days vacation." Zack began.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC (I'll write up that chapter on their wild weekend shortly, but I just didn't think it fit with the action adventure of this chapter.) 


	33. Case 4: Masada, Part 6

Case 4: Masada, Part 6  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. Be aware there is some sexuality/nudity in this chapter.  
  
C.J. Sandiego – Yes, I am a guy. So I don't know much about pregnancies. I had to rely largely on guesswork.  
  


* * *

  
26 May 2000: Aziz Parhouz and several Palestinian men were clustered in a small room. Outside they could hear Israeli bulldozers and tanks tearing down his last hideout. The booby trapped weapons had killed one of his men, the Israelis had killed another, and the third the ACME Detective, Ivy Darren had killed.  
  
"Rahim believed in Allah and the Jihad to expel the Israelis from our land." Aziz began, "My brother was a young man in his prime, only twenty years old was he. The ACME Detective killed him at a young age, but he has gone to Allah for his deeds. But this cannot go unavenged!"  
  
"We must take our vengeance upon her!" A Palestinian declared.  
  
"Yes cousin, we shall indeed take our revenge upon her." Aziz began, "But we must execute this carefully."  
  


* * *

  
Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, 1730 Local Time  
  
"Well we got finished with our case approximately four days earlier than we expected." Zack began.  
  
"The mayor of Honolulu was grateful for our work, and Wells gave us four days of paid vacation..." Tatiana continued.  
  
The party at the restaurant was unaware that they were being watched as they listened to Zack and Tatiana's story of their wild Hawaiian weekend two months prior.  
  


* * *

  
Tel Aviv, Israel, 0300 Local Time  
  
May 27, 2000: Hal stole another glance at the other side of the bed as Ivy slept. She looked so peaceful, so calm when she was asleep. In moving out of the bed in order to use the bathroom he'd moved the covers. Putting nature on hold for a moment, Hal gently slid the blanket up to Ivy's chin, tucked her in gently and was rewarded with a sleepy smile.  
  
'That felt right, I can't fathom why, but it just did.' Hal thought, as he answered nature's call and cleaned up. As he walked back in, he smiled as he watched Ivy, curled up on her side of the bed.  
  
'Olden, you'd best get a handle on these wild thoughts you've been having of late.' Hal thought, 'You've got to work with this woman for the next few years, you don't need the complication of being smitten...'  
  
Hal wondered why his heart wasn't obeying the commands of his brain as he slid back into his side of the bed. He regarded his sleeping partner once more, gently inhaled that strawberry scent she used in her hair so as not to wake her and fell asleep to yet another strange dream about Ivy. Strange wasn't the word for the dream, intense would be slightly closer to the truth and erotic would be dead on target.  
  
'Wanker,' Hal thought as he thought of his own version of that case in Isla Nublar, where after John Hammond's gala affair he managed to charm his way into Ivy's room and then...'If that's not erotic I don't know what is.'  
  
Ivy woke briefly and could see that Hal was definitely dreaming of something pleasurable. She didn't want to wake him up, and frankly it wasn't any of her business, but was curious.  
  
'I wonder what he's dreaming about? Diane? It must be her. Poor guy, to lose someone you love that way, then to see them when you sleep and realize you'll never see them again.' Ivy thought, 'Hal needs a friend, not a lover. I must be going crazy, I had better put a lid on these dreams I've been having lately. They're so strange.'  
  
Again, strange would not have been accurate to describe the dreams Ivy was describing. Truthfully she'd had them since their case in Costa Rica. The one she'd had earlier that night took place in Britain, after Holbarth died, and Hal had kissed her. Only this time there was more to the kiss than Hal kissing his deceased sweetheart through her. This time it brought them into her room at the Bed and Breakfast they stayed at and within seconds they were horizontal and...'Darren, stop it, you're getting way too presumptuous here. But a girl can dream can't she?' Ivy thought as she slid back under the covers to get some sleep.  
  
Neither of them noticed an envelope slid underneath the door of their hotel room.  
  


* * *

  
Honolulu, Hawaii, 1400 Local Time  
  
13 February 2000: "So Zack, what do you want to do with those four extra days of vacation we got?" Tatiana asked.  
  
'Hmm, I do have a few ideas.' Zack thought, with a dreamy smile on his face.  
  
"Zack?" Tatiana asked.  
  
"How about dinner, say around 1700?" Zack asked, "At the Charthouse."  
  
"Zack, you're really putting on the charm. What's the occasion?" Tatiana smiled slyly.  
  
"It is near Valentine's Day." Zack observed.  
  
"That's right it is." Tatiana said, and then thought, 'I can't wait until you see that big surprise I've packed in the lower part of my suitcase for just such an occasion. Think of it as using that little gift you bought me Valentine's Day, last year from Victoria's Secret.'  
  


* * *

  
Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, 1800 Local Time  
  
May 26, 2000: "So after the four days vacation, what happened next?" Tatiana's grandmother asked, with a wide grin on her face.  
  
"Well," Tatiana said, "Zack took me out to dinner, paid for everything and we took a walk along the beach.........  
  


* * *

  
Honolulu, Hawaii, 2000 Local Time  
  
13 February 2000: Zack and Tatiana walked along the beach, the night sky softened by a full moon and the stars gleaming in their glory, though somewhat masked by the lights of the boardwalk. Though the pair were dressed a bit formally for a walk on the beach, they didn't seem to mind.  
  
Tatiana carried her shoes, and wore a white evening dress that terminated just above her knees. Zack had removed his blazer and tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. They just walked along the beach, enjoying the tropical night and the soft ocean breezes. They walked holding hands, talking chatty bits of conversation.  
  
Suddenly Zack stopped, framed by the full moon he drew his fiancée close and pulled her into his arms. He gently brushed a stray strand of blonde hair from her face and kissed her softly, tenderly. It was several seconds before they stopped.  
  
Breathless, Tatiana said, "What was that for?"  
  
"I just felt like it." Zack said.  
  
"A good kiss should have a reason, as my grandmother used to say." Tatiana said as she moved in for another kiss, this one more passionate. Again several seconds passed before they parted.  
  
"What was that for?" Zack asked, "Or did you just feel like it."  
  
"That was my way of thanking you for dinner, the movie, and everything else you did for me." Tatiana said. She was sure it wasn't just the daiquiris she'd had at dinner that were making her lightheaded, it was that kiss she and Zack had shared.  
  
Zack blushed redder than a traffic light and Tatiana thought, wickedly, 'If that made you blush, I'd love to see your reaction to your Valentine's Day surprise.'  
  
Zack gazed lovingly at his bride to be and thought, 'I am definitely the luckiest man on the planet right now.'  
  
"Zack?" Tatiana asked, "What are you thinking?"  
  
"I'm thinking about how I'm the luckiest man on the planet right now." Zack replied, kissing her again.  
  
Before they knew it they were back in their hotel, barely keeping their hands off each other the way they had on the drive through the Honolulu waterfront. Then when they got into the room and the door closed they cut loose.  
  
Zack began by kissing his fiancée with a mixture of the fierce passion within and the love he felt for her. "You know, honey, if you're not ready........."  
  
"Zack, I love you. I am ready." Tatiana said, "I'm marrying you, remember."  
  
"I remember." Zack smiled, boyishly, and with that, the last inhibition had fallen away and they let themselves be swept up in the moment.  
  
Tatiana traced her hands gently across Zack's torso and stomach before starting to unbutton and slowly remove his shirt. Zack slowly undid the button and then the zipper behind Tatiana's back. He slowly and tenderly slid the dress off her body and she stood there wearing only her bra, panties, stockings, heels and a seductive smile.  
  
"Why Zackary, see something you like?" Tatiana began as she took the two lithe steps between them and undid Zack's trousers.  
  
As they moved towards the bedroom, more and more expanses of bare skin could be seen. And as they hit the bed they were both nude. The night passed with much passion and lovemaking and it was at 0100 when they finally fell asleep, lying in each others arms.  
  


* * *

  
Tel Aviv, Israel, 0500 Local Time  
  
May 27, 2000: Ivy awoke and headed to the refrigerator for a bottle of mineral water. She was grateful Hal had the foresight to buy a pack of them and stick them in the fridge earlier that day. Hal was asleep, still, and dreaming about something. 'Wouldn't it be nice if he was dreaming about me?' Ivy thought to herself.  
  
She noticed an envelope underneath the door of the room. She opened it up and then turned pale. Enclosed inside was a photograph of her family and Tatiana's family at the Italian place on Fisherman's Wharf. Enclosed was a note saying something on the lines of, "I have operatives shadowing them every minute. You risk their safety by your continued investigation. If you wish to discuss the matter, meet in Ramala."  
  
Ivy quietly dressed and headed out the door, leaving Hal a brief note.........  
  


* * *

  
Tel Aviv, Israel, 0630 Local Time  
  
Hal awoke feeling something was amiss in the room. Ivy wasn't on the other side of the bed, nor was she anywhere in the hotel room. He noticed a note pinned to the fridge and began to feel alarmed.  
  
Hal,  
  
I can't say how urgent a matter this is, but my family's been threatened by Parhouz. I've headed to Ramala, and that's all I can say.  
  
Ivy  
  
As soon as Hal read the note he felt an acid dread. He grabbed the phone and called the number that Demerest had given them. "Demerest, when can you get over here?" Hal asked, after Demerest responded Hal said, "Then get over here pronto!"  
  


* * *

  
Ramala, Palestinian Territory, 0800 Local Time  
  
"Detective Darren, so nice to finally see you in person." An Arab voice sounded.  
  
Ivy turned to see a bearded man with facial scars facing her. He was flanked by two masked gunmen and Ivy knew that the gig was up. She could draw fast enough to shoot the two gunmen and Parhouz.  
  
Aziz Parhouz didn't react with the fear one would expect of someone expecting their life to suddenly end. "I know what you're thinking, Detective Darren, and I know just how good you are armed or unarmed in a fight. My brother knew it as well, as you killed him. Don't think I didn't plan for this."  
  
Ivy heard three more pairs of boots behind her and felt a gun poked into her backside. She raised her hands, palms open as one of the gunmen frisked her, with a yellow toothed leer, he was obviously enjoying the job. He dug out her Beretta pistol and two clips.  
  
"The same weapon, no doubt, that killed my brother." Aziz said, as one of the gunmen tied Ivy's hands behind her back. He backhanded her and said, "You are lucky Maelstrom wants you alive for now. For I shall enjoy making you suffer for what you did to my brother."  
  


* * *

  
TBC (Up next, Hal goes to rescue Ivy.) 


	34. Case 4: Masada, Part 7

Case 4: Masada, Part 7  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. The idea of Carmen thinking of Zack and Ivy as practically family has been toyed around with by fan fiction authors before, and I am merely using it. I did not intend to plagiarize.  
  
C.J. Sandiego, the Diane flashback at the beginning is to illustrate Hal's worst fears with regard to Ivy's fate. Also, just out of curiosity, I wonder what songs you'd put into a CD that would best describe our favorite couple (Hal/Ivy).  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Hereford, UK  
  
19 September 1999: Hal Olden sat in the left seat, the passenger seat, of Digger's Land Rover Defender. "Quit being so fidgety you wanker." Digger grumbled, "You're not the first bloke to have fallen in love."  
  
"Eight months mate, I haven't seen her in eight months." Hal replied.  
  
"You're gonna never see her again if you don't quit acting so bloody anxious." Digger replied, "I've been down that route before, you love the girl, you marry her, you two have a few years of the best sex you've ever had and then you punch out the 2.5 kids and then it becomes..."  
  
"Digger, no matter how cynical you act, I can tell you and Beatrice are still 100% in love. Especially when you were moaning her name in the middle of the night in Belize." Hal replied.  
  
"You wanker!" Digger replied, grinning, "Yep, Beatrice may have gained a few pounds but she's still as lovely as before and...You bloody wanker! Watch where you're going!"  
  
"Digger, that was an ambulance, no reason to get emotional. But then not having seen your love for months at a time does that." Hal quipped.  
  
"Remind me to give you and Diane a minging dead sheep for your wedding gift." Digger replied.  
  
"Digger, if you don't shut up I'll drown you in the bloody river." Hal replied, "Besides we've just admitted our feelings for each other. We're still trying to start a relationship, we've not even considered marriage."  
  
"I know how the story goes you wanker, so don't tell it. She sent you that picture a couple days ago and you've been staring at it ever since. What did she write on it by the way?" Digger said.  
  
"Yes." Hal replied, with a thousand watt smile, "She said yes."  
  
"Well here's the turn for Hereford's ACME Field Office. Time to pick you two up and then watch you start smothering each other." Digger said, "On display in five minutes, my lunch."  
  
"You dickhead." Hal groaned, "What the hell?"  
  
"There's a bloody ambulance in the parking lot." Digger said.  
  
"I have eyes, Digger." Hal replied. The two men stopped the car outside the parking lot and ran towards the crowd of spectators.  
  
Hal noticed a familiar automobile, and noticed the seat was splattered with blood. 'Oh dear God, let her be alright.' Hal thought.  
  
The paramedics were moving a stretcher, and atop it was a body bag. Hal raced over to it and confirmed what his brain already knew. He was staring into the bloody face of the woman he loved...  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Tel Aviv, Israel, 0800 Local Time  
  
"Olden, I can't approve of your plan. It's suicide." Wells said, "We're working on finding Detective Darren. You're to do nothing."  
  
"Yes sir, I understand." Hal replied and hung the phone up, "Bollocks to it. I'm doing it anyway, just like I planned. I'll be damned if Ivy shares Diane's fate."  
  
He checked to see the Beretta was loaded and the magazines were working properly. He was likely going to need every last round if this rescue operation went ass upwards, as it was liable to do. Murphy's Law was known to act on every combat operation. Demerest and Elsa he needed for the purpose of giving an anonymous tip to the moment he found the hideout and extracted Ivy safely.  
  
"You'll need more than two Israeli soldiers to help you with your plan, Hal." Said a voice behind him.  
  
He whirled to see Carmen Sandiego standing there. "Carmen, what are you doing here? Come to think of it, why were you in Britain on our last case?"  
  
"I've always thought of Zack and Ivy as the son and daughter I never had in some ways." Carmen said, "I was helping Ivy make sure that you didn't do something you'd regret, namely murdering Holbarth."  
  
"Right. But what about now?" Hal asked.  
  
"The same reason and also because I'm no friend of Maelstrom." Carmen said.  
  
"So I gathered." Hal replied, checking the Beretta again, making sure the magazines were working properly and that there was indeed a round in the chamber.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"How did it feel to see the 'terrorist scum' lying dead at your feet?" Aziz asked Ivy. She was in the basement of a house somewhere in Ramala. She could have been in the middle of the Arabian Desert for all she knew, because of the blindfold covering her eyes. A length of chain wrapped around her wrists and padlocked and connected solidly to an eyebolt in the wall held her hands over her head. Ivy was on her knees, with a length of rope around her ankles.  
  
"He tried to kill me, I had no other choice." Ivy replied.  
  
"Foolish girl!" Parhouz said, backhanding her, splitting her lip, "I know that! But you now leave ME no other choice but to seek vengeance. You are fortunate Maelstrom wants you alive for now. Good. For it would be a pity for Detective Olden to miss seeing his partner die in front of him. Did you seduce him yet, I wonder? Did you manage to garner sympathy from him for your odious deed? Well, I know he will attempt to come to your rescue, and we're ready for him."  
  
"You underestimate ACME, Parhouz." Ivy replied.  
  
"I may underestimate ACME, but I don't underestimate the SAS. Britain's best counter-terrorist units if I'm not mistaken. If I'm not mistaken, First Lieutenant Harold Olden has been serving with 22 SAS for quite some time, six years if I'm not mistaken, after eight years as a boy soldier with the Royal Marines." Parhouz replied, "Now I will need to keep you quiet."  
  
As he spoke he stuffed a rag into Ivy's mouth and undid the blindfold around her eyes. He then tied what was her blindfold around her mouth to keep the rag inside. Ivy almost choked on the gag, and her protests were reduced to barely articulate grunts as Parhouz reached a hand inside her shirt.  
  
"You truly are a beautiful woman. I can see why he likes you." Parhouz said, cupping the same hand under her chin.  
  
He walked off, leaving Ivy still fettered to the wall, in the basement of a house in Ramala. Outside she could hear gunfire as Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants traded shots.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Are you sure you know the location?" Hal asked as he and Carmen drove down the road towards Ramala. Carmen simply nodded.  
  
Demerest's task was to alert his unit of the Palestinian stronghold where Ivy was being held. The moment Hal infiltrated and rescued Ivy, an Israeli bulldozer unit, supported by detachments from the Golani infantry brigade would literally send the structure crashing down around Parhouz's head.  
  
Hal wrapped the shamag (what British soldiers call an Arab's head cover) around his head, obscuring his facial features. He made sure the pistol was accessible and there was a round in the chamber. If he had a silencer, he'd use it, but he didn't. The best SAS operations were ones where very few enemies were even seen, much less killed, and the objective was still accomplished. That didn't mean Hal wasn't prepared to kill, far from it, he wanted to avoid having to kill anyone if need be for the purposes of stealth. The moment that he extracted Ivy from the location, the Israelis were going to tear the place to pieces.  
  
"How's your Arabic?" Carmen asked.  
  
"I can pass for an Arab, I'm not expecting to be in there for more than ten minutes anyway." Hal said, then thought, 'If I'm in there for longer than ten, the Israeli snipers are gonna start engaging the Palestinians and then the assault begins.'  
  
Hal pushed the thought from his brain and concentrated on the mission. He tried as best he could to blend in amongst a group of Palestinian civilians and as he neared the building he snuck inside.  
  
He ducked inside a crevice as he saw a pair of Palestinians, carrying AK- 47 assault rifles in their hands. He could understand a few words of their conversation, and the words he understood indicated that Ivy was down in the basement. He made his way, covertly, down towards the basement, ducking out of sight whenever he saw a militiaman come by.  
  
He had the pistol out, in case he had to shoot anybody, but he again hoped he'd be able to accomplish this without killing anyone. Murphy's Law decided to intervene at that moment because the moment he reached the basement he saw another guard stop at the entrance.  
  
'Wanker, looks like I'm gonna have to kill this bloke.' Hal thought, 'And quietly too. Maybe if I sneak up on him and break his neck.'  
  
Hal kept to the shadows, hugging the stone wall as he snuck silently towards the guard. He was already preparing on how he was going to snap the guard's neck and where he would hide the body as he made his escape when Murphy decided to intervene again.  
  
The guard turned around and right when he did, he saw Hal. The guard raised his AK-47 and Hal instantly remembered his pistol drills. He pulled the Beretta free and squeezed off a double tap. He fired two shots in rapid succession into the guard's forehead. The operation had just gone from covert to overt in less than a second. Hal kicked the basement door open and saw Ivy as soon as he ran down a staircase. By the muffled grunts he heard, Ivy had obviously been gagged.  
  
Hal saw Ivy was chained to the wall, and gagged for good measure. She looked up at him, her desperate eyes peering over the gag that muted her. Hal pulled the gag around Ivy's mouth away, pulling the rag free.  
  
"Are you alright?" Hal asked.  
  
"I'm fine," Ivy said, shaken, "can you get those chains off me?"  
  
"Bloody hell!" Hal groaned and said, "I'll be back with the keys."  
  
Hal ran up the stairs, and as he did, he saw another guard standing over the body of his fallen comrade. Without hesitating, Hal squeezed off another two rounds, hitting the terrorist in the head. He then took the AK- 47 and spare magazines from one of the guards just as another appeared.  
  
'Wanker!' Hal thought, and squeezed the trigger, hoping that it wasn't rigged with the jarked ammo the Israelis had been inserting into Palestinian caches. The AK went off, a burst of fire hitting the terrorist in the chest. Hal yanked the keys off the first man he'd killed and ran downstairs.  
  
"Hal, what's going on?" Ivy asked.  
  
"They know I'm here." Hal replied, unlocking Ivy's restraints.  
  
"Somebody's gonna be filling out a lot of paperwork when we get back to HQ." Ivy said, jokingly.  
  
Hal untied her feet and handed her his pistol, "I don't suppose you know how to use this?" Hal joked back.  
  
"Hal watch out!" Ivy shouted as the third terrorist, the one Hal had shot with the AK, staggered shakily to his feet and squeezed the trigger.  
  
Hal expected to feel bullets tearing through his frame but didn't feel a thing. All he heard was an explosion as the bolt of the AK-47 in the terrorist's hands exploded outward and flew into his right eye. Hal picked up a grenade from one of the dead terrorists as he heard more of them coming down from the second floor. Hal lobbed it up the staircase and heard screams and an explosion shortly after.  
  
"Run!" Hal shouted, "They're gonna blow this place down!"  
  
"Who?" Ivy replied.  
  
"The Israelis. I told them in ten minutes to blow this place down." Hal asked.  
  
"When did you sneak in here?" Hal asked.  
  
"At about 1400." Hal replied.  
  
"That mean's we've got about thirty seconds to clear out." Ivy replied, apparently being tied up in a basement didn't mess up her flawless internal clock.  
  
"Ivy, you've got to tell me one of these days how you manage to tell time without even glancing at a clock or your watch." Hal replied.  
  
"Trade secrets, Hal." Ivy replied.  
  
Hal discarded the AK-47 and shamag, so that he wouldn't be mistaken for a terrorist and ran outside just as two Palestinian gunmen that were lying in wait for them fell dead. Two Israeli snipers, one of them Demerest, had just begun the assault.  
  
Hal immediately ushered Ivy to a nearby ambulance where a paramedic placed a blanket around her shoulders. Hal instinctively took her in his arms and Ivy welcomed the embrace. As they held each other tight a car pulled up, Chief Inspector Rosenthal stepped out with a cell phone.  
  
"Hal, it's Wells, your boss, he wants to talk to you." Rosenthal said.  
  
"Olden?" Hal replied.  
  
"Olden, you're in deep trouble. I don't know whether to demote you from Senior Detective to Detective or put a commendation in your file. Is Darren alright?" Wells asked.  
  
"She's fine, do you want to talk to her?" Hal asked.  
  
"Not right now. Olden, I'll settle for you doing a ton of paperwork for this one." Wells said, "Good to have both of you back."  
  
"Likewise, sir." Hal replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	35. Thank God It's Friday

Thank God It's Friday  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. The characters Jennifer Coates (JAG tie-in, I know) and Louie Cortez are mine. I also invented a part of Ivy's past here.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
ACME HQ, San Francisco, 1430 Local Time  
  
28 May 2000: "Bloody jet lag." Hal groaned as he walked into the bullpen.  
  
"You could have taken the day off, Hal." Ivy replied.  
  
"I figured what's the bloody point, it's only one day till the weekend." Hal replied, "What about you?"  
  
"I didn't really feel like taking a three day weekend because I know that tons of paperwork are gonna appear like magic on my desk when I come in on Monday." Ivy replied.  
  
"You're complaining about paperwork." Hal groaned, "I've still got a bunch of after action reports to file."  
  
"Hal, that's because you disobeyed an order from Wells, shot three terrorists, and destroyed a building." Ivy replied.  
  
"Would you rather still be Parhouz's prisoner right now?" Hal replied.  
  
"Hal, it's not that I don't appreciate you going in there and rescuing me. I really did. But Parhouz did escape." Ivy replied.  
  
"I know that, Wells just spent the past two hours lecturing me about it." Hal replied.  
  
"Actually it was the past hour and fifteen minutes." Ivy replied, laughing, a cup of coffee in her right hand. She handed one to Hal.  
  
"You're too kind. And I'd really love to know how you tell time without needing a watch." Hal replied.  
  
"I have my ways." Ivy replied, and thought, 'The only place I'd even think to reveal that secret to you would be in bed. Wow! Where did that come from?'  
  
"Anyway, I didn't destroy that building, the Israelis did." Hal replied.  
  
"That's because you had an Israeli assault force standing by just outside the building when you went in to rescue me." Ivy replied.  
  
Hal rolled his eyes and said, "A minor technicality, counselor."  
  
"Point made," Ivy replied, "But evidence still indicates that you are the ultimate guilty party in destroying that building."  
  
"Wanker." Hal groaned.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"OK class." Tatiana said, to the fourteen or so newly badged Junior Detectives in front of her, "Today you meet the Detective or Senior Detective that you'll be apprenticed to. You'll follow them on their cases; you'll help them out when necessary. Here are the assignments, go find them if you can."  
  
A slim, dark haired girl of fifteen looked over the list. "I got Ivy Darren, Louie, who'd you wind up with?"  
  
"I wound up with Harold Olden, whoever he is." Louie replied. He was a wiry Hispanic kid, a year younger than Jennifer Coates, the girl that addressed him.  
  
"He's the British guy, he's Ivy's partner." Jen said, "Louie, where have you been all day."  
  
"Trying to pass Forensic Psychology." Louie replied, "It's not as easy as it looks."  
  
"That's my area of expertise, you should have asked me." Jen replied as they walked into the bullpen.  
  
They saw Ivy and Hal straight away and Hal said, "Who are they?"  
  
Ivy mock punched him on the arm, "Hal, those are the Junior Detectives. Remember that memo we got last week that said that we'd each be paired up with a Junior Detective."  
  
"Hi, I'm Ivy, you must be Jen."  
  
"Yes ma'am." Coates said, all Junior Detectives, for the first six months of training were required to call any detective senior to them sir or ma'am.  
  
"It's Ivy, actually."  
  
"You must be Louie." Hal said, "I didn't get a chance to look at your dossier, because I was busy."  
  
"Blowing things up, you mean." Ivy quipped.  
  
"For the last time Ivy, I didn't destroy that building!" Hal replied, "The Israelis did."  
  
"He called them in to do it." Ivy replied.  
  
"Bollocks!" Hal replied, then turning to Louie he said, "See what I have to put up with."  
  
"So what field are you going into?" Ivy asked Jen.  
  
"Probably Forensic Psychology, or I might go try and pursue a masters in Psychology and maybe go back into ACME." Jen Coates replied, "I really don't know yet."  
  
"What about you Louie?" Hal asked.  
  
"I think I might want to go into Crimenet or San Francisco SWAT." Louie replied, "So you really were a member of British Special Forces?"  
  
"It's called the SAS (Special Air Service), actually." Hal replied, "Before that I was a member of the Royal Marines."  
  
"What did you do?" Louie asked.  
  
"I was a sniper." Hal replied.  
  
Wells' tall frame walked through the opening, "The day just seems to get longer on jetlag, doesn't it."  
  
"You're not kidding. I've been doing a lot of overseas deployments with both the Royal Marines and the SAS before coming here, and I still need to get used to it." Hal replied, "And my partner here's about as fresh as a daisy."  
  
"I've been doing this since I was sixteen." Ivy replied.  
  
"Anyway, I came in here for two reasons. One to get a cup of coffee and some aspirin," Wells said, looking daggers at Hal and Ivy as he said that, "Two, you're all invited to the Rose and Crown pub at 1800. It's good to have you back Darren. Olden, if you pull one more stunt like that I'll have your head."  
  
As Wells left the room Ivy said, "Thanks a lot Hal, looks like you got us into trouble."  
  
Ivy's face was serious, but Hal could tell by her tone she was slightly amused, "Moi. Excuse me, mademoiselle, I just saved your life. Against orders or not."  
  
"True," Ivy said, "But you still are bound to set the record for causing Wells the most headaches out of the two of us."  
  
"Bollocks." Hal replied.  
  
"I'll bet you." Ivy replied.  
  
"Fine. If by the end of this year I cause Wells more headaches I owe you a few drinks." Hal replied.  
  
"Hal, I don't drink." Ivy replied.  
  
"Really?" Hal replied, quizzically, "Alright, how about this one. I'll bet you dinner, at a place of your choice, if I cause Wells more headaches than you."  
  
"You're on, the score is you one, me zero." Ivy replied, entering the information into her pocket electronic organizer.  
  
"Bollocks! That doesn't count." Hal replied.  
  
"The hell it does." Ivy replied, as she walked out into the hall.  
  
Hal came after her, "You can't tally a score that was made before a bet."  
  
"I just did, Hal." Ivy replied, smiling.  
  
"It's against the rules." Hal replied.  
  
"What rules, I'd love a copy of them." Ivy replied.  
  
As they walked off into the administration area, towards their offices Jen and Louie looked at each other.  
  
"He likes her, he definitely does." Jen replied.  
  
"Who? Hal? Nah." Louie said.  
  
'Guys are so dense sometimes.' Jen thought, "Any idiot can see Hal likes Ivy."  
  
"They're just good friends." Louie protested, "And how can you guess that after knowing them for about half an hour."  
  
"I'm studying psychology, Louie, I know these things. Trust me, he likes her." Jen replied.  
  
"So, they're good friends. I mean friends joke around like that all the time." Louie replied, "And if he likes her, why hasn't he asked her out?"  
  
"I don't know all the answers." Jen replied, "But I'm definitely sure Ivy's at least interested in Hal."  
  
As she spoke, Tatiana walked into the bullpen, "Well, I see you've inadvertently stumbled into the office pool."  
  
"What pool, ma'am?" Louie asked.  
  
"For the last time, Louie, call me Tatiana now, you're not a Student Detective anymore."  
  
"What pool?" Jen asked.  
  
"There's been a betting pool started up, earlier this month. It's fairly popular. It's a guess as to when Hal and Ivy will get together. Personally I think maybe six months." Tatiana said.  
  
"I'll bet twenty bucks on two years." Louie replied.  
  
"I'm putting ten dollars on one year." Jen replied.  
  
Tatiana entered their bets on her organizer, "Well we've got twenty two people in the office betting now. We've even got a bet from Carmen Sandiego, she's betting within two years Hal and Ivy will be dating."  
  
"Actually I bet he proposes to her in three years." Jen added, "Twenty- five dollars."  
  
"Point made." Tatiana replied.  
  
"Put me down for forty, honey." Zack said, poking his head through the bullpen door, "And that's for a year and a half."  
  
The office's most popular betting pool just claimed three new members. The pool was now in excess of two hundred dollars that Ivy and Hal would come together at various times. Tatiana entered the time in. Keeping this a secret from Hal and Ivy was going to be a difficult task, but it had been done. Neither Hal nor Ivy knew that they had a pool as to when a romance between them would develop.  
  
Corso walked in and said, "Well, I think I'll up the ante. Fifty dollars that they're together by the time his tour's up."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Rose and Crown Pub, San Francisco, 1810 Local Time  
  
"Hal, can you make it in time for anything?" Ivy remarked from the table where she and the others sat.  
  
"I've been on time." Hal replied.  
  
"You're exactly ten minutes and thirty seconds late." Ivy said, without glancing at her watch.  
  
"That was because of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge, you can't blame that on me." Hal replied.  
  
"Olden, just sit down." Wells quipped.  
  
"Right Chief." Hal replied and took the only empty seat, which incidentally was next to Ivy. Hal flashed her one of his trademark grins as he took his seat.  
  
"So Hal, do you really think that Phil Collins is the best songwriter of the 20th Century?" Armando asked.  
  
"Of course." Hal replied, "The man is brilliant with a capital B."  
  
Ivy rolled her eyes, "I'm partial to Savage Garden myself."  
  
"I'd hate to have to carpool with Hal." Armando quipped, "All I'd be hearing is Phil Collins."  
  
"What's wrong with that, Phil Collins is a brilliant artist." Hal replied.  
  
"Definitely I'm inclined to agree with Olden. Incidentally though I do wonder what you were thinking attacking a whole building full of terrorists..." Wells replied, with a slightly devilish grin, "And that means someone's got a lot of paperwork. As does said someone's partner..."  
  
"Hey." Ivy protested, "I resent that."  
  
"You still have to gage Olden's mental and emotional state." Wells replied.  
  
The group settled into friendly banter, glad to have both Ivy and Hal back alive. At around 2200 Ivy yawned and said, "Jetlag, I've got to get some rest. I'll be back Monday."  
  
Ivy walked out to the parking lot where Hal instinctively fell into step beside her. "Hal, this isn't Israel." Ivy said.  
  
"Just the same, I'd feel better if I walked with you on this one, Ninja Girl." Hal replied.  
  
"You're too kind, limey." Ivy remarked.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"He likes her." Jen said, "He definitely likes her."  
  
"They're just friends, for God's sake." Louie whispered back to her.  
  
"Then why did he follow her out into the parking lot." Jen said.  
  
"He's British, he's being a gentleman and walking her to her car." Louie remarked.  
  
"Guys are so dense." Jen mumbled under her breath.  
  
"Jennifer, they don't change as they get older." Tatiana said.  
  
"HEY!" Zack protested.  
  
"But they do grow a lot more loveable as they grow older." Tatiana replied, kissing Zack gently on the mouth.  
  
"I can live with that." Zack grinned.  
  
"Ivy, what's wrong, I thought you were going home." Zack remarked when he saw Ivy and Hal walk back into the pub.  
  
"I was, but my 'Vette won't start." Ivy said, "I just called a tow truck, but it's pretty chilly outside."  
  
Zack noticed Ivy had Hal's gray fleece jacket draped around her shoulders. Jen, Wells, Tatiana, Armando, and Louie noticed too.  
  
"It's fairly warm, at least for the UK." Hal said, nonchalantly.  
  
"See! He likes her!" Jen whisperred, all the while attempting to check for lipstick stains on Hal's collar.  
  
"He's probably just being a gentleman Jen." Louie remarked.  
  
"Hey, I'll drive you home when the tow truck gets here." Hal said.  
  
"Thank's Hal, I appreciate it, but you're not exactly my next door neighbor, I mean Riverside's a bit off track from your place." Ivy replied.  
  
"I insist." Hal replied, "I'd honestly feel safer if I knew you were home safe by my hand."  
  
"Hal that's sweet of you, it really is." Ivy replied, "But I can take care of myself."  
  
"I know." Hal replied, "But just the same, I'd rather do you the favor of driving you home."  
  
"Sure, I'll take you up on that." Ivy replied, smiling back at him.  
  
Within a few moments Ivy got into Hal's SUV and he drove her back to her apartment. As they drove down the freeway, Hal noticed Ivy had fallen asleep. As they stopped in front of her apartment Hal gently opened the door, making sure Ivy wasn't leaning against the door. He undid her seatbelt and supported her neck and the area at the bend of her knees. He carried her into her apartment, opened the door with her key and removed her shoes. He then tucked her into her bed and walked out of the apartment, locking the door.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
TBC 


	36. Ghost of the Past

Ghost of the Past  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.

* * *

Northern Ireland  
  
3 January 1990: "Range me." Sergeant Alfred "Alfie" Davidson said, from behind the scope of  
his L96A1 sniper rifle.  
  
Private Hal Olden, a recently arrived eighteen-year-old fresh from the Royal Marine Sniper   
School raised the spotter scope to his eye, "Four hundred and fifty meters."  
  
"Right, two blokes with Armalites at 450 meters. I'll take out the lead bloke, Olden after I fire   
you take down the second." Davidson said. The two snipers had radioed into HQ with their   
contact and it was confirmed the two masked gunmen were IRA terrorists on their way to a   
hide to start sniping at British soldiers.  
  
"Ready on my mark." Davidson said, zeroing his crosshairs on the head of the first terrorist.

"Ready." Hal replied, leveling his telescope sighted M-16 on the second.  
  
Both men breathed deeply to increase the oxygen in their lungs and blood streams. Davidson   
slowly squeezed the trigger on his rifle, exhaling as he did so, keeping the crosshairs zeroed   
onto the IRA terrorist that was now firing single shots at a British convoy. He felt surprise as the   
heavy rifle bucked and he watched with grim satisfaction as the terrorist's head exploded.  
  
Hal leveled his crosshairs on the second terrorist, breathing too rapidly for Davidson's liking,   
"For God's sake Olden, calm. Make the shot like it's a bloody day on the range wanker!"  
  
Hal calmed down, slowly squeezing the trigger on his M-16 as the terrorist ran through the   
hedges beside the road. He felt the M-16 buck as it went off, sending a smaller but no less   
deadly 5.56mm round downrange into the back of the terrorist's head…

* * *

Hal's Apartment, Harbor View, 0800 Local Time  
  
29 May 2000: Hal jerked up in bed at the memory of the first time he'd ever shot a human   
being in cold blood. The man wasn't even aware of he and Davidson's presence until the latter   
opened fire, killing his partner.  
  
"Bloody Hell it's Saturday…" Hal groaned, as he stumbled out of bed, not really in the mood   
for sleeping again.  
  
He stretched and got a drink of water and decided to go for his morning run. He figured the   
exercise would keep his mind off his latest nightmare. He got down into the park and began   
running along the trail, nodding a curt but friendly nod to a woman pushing an infant in a stroller.

* * *

Ivy had just started warming up for her own morning run. She'd decided to do her morning run   
and then make a pit stop at her parent's house for a shower and a change of clothes before   
going to Tatiana's baby shower.  
  
She caught sight of a very familiar figure just after he'd nodded hello to a woman pushing an infant in a stroller. From a distance she could tell it was Hal, from his short cropped black hair,   
lean, compact build and the sand brown t-shirt and black shorts he wore.  
  
Hal caught sight of his partner after he'd finished saying hello to the woman with her infant   
daughter in a stroller. He had always liked babies they could bring a smile to his face even at the   
worst of times. As he looked up from the stroller he could see his partner running towards him.   
He could tell it was her not only by her short red hair, but also by her lean, athletic physique.   
She waved him over and he ran alongside.  
  
"Come here often?" Hal asked jokingly.  
  
"No, this is my first time." Ivy joked back.  
  
As they got closer, Hal couldn't help but notice how her short shorts exposed her toned and   
well defined legs. Her t-shirt was obviously an older one she wore a lot seeing how it clung to   
her upper body in all the right areas as far as he was concerned.  
  
"Sorry if I'm a bit slow, Hal, my knee's been giving me trouble lately." Ivy mused.  
  
"It's quite alright." Hal replied, yawning.  
  
"Didn't sleep well?" Ivy asked.  
  
"I got a fair amount." Hal replied, "Kind of far from Riverside, aren't you?"  
  
"I'm here for Tatiana's Baby Shower, remember?" Ivy replied.  
  
"Oh, I almost forgot." Hal replied.  
  
"Well I was going to call you, but even if I did, we both know you're Mr. Punctual…" Ivy   
replied.  
  
"Ha ha." Hal replied, "Very funny."  
  
"I thought the British pride themselves on precision." Ivy replied, laughing and taking off   
running.  
  
"Oh that's not funny!" Hal replied, chasing after her. He caught her around the waist and pulled   
both of them into a soft landing into a patch of grass.  
  
"Hal! Stop….Not fair!" Ivy said, "No tickling…"  
  
Hal had discovered Ivy was more than slightly ticklish a few inches under her armpits back in   
Israel, so he started tickling. Ivy laughed breathlessly, but then she remembered her old Sensei's   
words of wisdom, 'When in doubt, take the offensive.'  
  
Ivy reached up and countered, tickling Hal under his chin. She noticed he was extremely   
ticklish under there in Israel as well. "Fair's fair, English." Ivy laughed.  
  
"I surrender! I surrender!" Hal said, between laughs. People walking by stared at them, mostly   
smiling as they did.  
  
"So the 'bloody colonials' best the finest the British have to offer?" Ivy laughed, continuing her   
tickling, not realizing Hal had both his legs around her waist, despite being on his back, he was   
far from helpless. Twisting sideways Hal managed to use his heavier weight and the greater   
muscle mass of his legs to throw Ivy onto her back.  
  
"Turnabout is fair play…" Hal replied, tickling her back.  
  
Both of them sat up after long moments of laughing. As they sat on the grass, side by side, just   
enjoying the beautiful late spring day, Ivy felt Hal's right hand on top of her left. She smiled and   
sidled closer to Hal, thinking, 'Hal Olden, if we weren't out in public right now…'

Hal was about to withdraw his hand, which had accidentally found itself atop Ivy's. Remembering the agreement, to just stay friends, after he kissed her in Britain he moved his   
hand away. 'God Ivy, if touching you that briefly is enough to cause me to get light headed I'd   
hate to see what would happen if we…' Hal thought.  
  
At the same time they looked at each other in an awkward silence. They turned away and both   
thought the exact same thing. 'What are you thinking?'  
  
They went on their jog in relative emotional comfort. After they finished the trail Ivy said, "I'm   
going to run back to my house to get changed before the baby shower."  
  
"I'll run with you." Hal replied.  
  
The pair finished the two additional miles back to Ivy's house and Ivy noticed her parents were   
gone. She fished a key from a hidden spot in the front porch and opened the door, finding a   
note on the fridge.  
  
Ivy,  
  
We're going out for lunch and a movie. See you for dinner?  
  
Love,  
  
Mom and Dad  
  
"Well if that's the case," Hal replied, "I'll get showered and dressed and I'll pick you up for the   
baby shower."  
  
"Thank you, Hal, as long as you don't make me late…" Ivy replied.  
  
"Bollocks, when have I ever…" Hal began.  
  
"I can think of a few dozen occasions where your punctuality gets called into question…" Ivy   
replied.

* * *

A few minutes later, Hal was waiting in his SUV in front of Ivy's house. He put the car in park   
and turned off the engine, remembering where her spare key was hidden and opened the door.   
"Ivy? I just let myself in, I'm here to pick you up."  
  
Hal walked up the stairs and as he made it up there a door swung open and he was graced   
with the most beautiful sight he'd seen, Ivy Darren clothed only in water droplets and a little   
white towel. Her eyes widened the moment she saw him. She heard him call out downstairs but   
didn't think he'd go and look for her.  
  
'What's gotten into Hal? I mean it can't be that exciting staring at his half naked partner fresh   
from the shower.' Ivy thought, then recovering her composure she said, "Hal, you're exactly   
five minutes and seventeen seconds early."  
  
"See, I can be punctual, even early." Hal replied calmly. Inwardly he was making a valiant   
effort to keep his eyes focused on her face and keep his eyes from traveling downward. 'Good   
God, if I were to die right now, I could die very happy, because she likely knows I'm staring.'   
Hal thought.  
  
Briefly but discernibly enough his eyes wandered south. Ivy blushed and said, "I'd best go get   
changed."  
  
'OK, maybe looking at his half naked partner fresh from the shower turns him on…' Ivy   
thought, feeling more than a bit flattered by Hal's valiant attempts to control his wandering eyes.  
About five minutes later Ivy came out of her room and Hal felt the wait was well worth it. She   
wore a short sleeved red blouse, contrasting well with her black jeans and a nice pair of shoes.   
Her hair was still drying but was combed neatly enough, so she picked up her purse and   
motioned Hal to head downstairs.  
  
After locking the door, Hal and Ivy climbed into Hal's SUV and they started towards Zack  
and Tatiana's place. "So I guess this tour wasn't as dull as you thought it would be…" Ivy   
began.  
  
"It's been a good deal more eventful in some areas. First we dealt with a psychotic sniper,   
rampaging dinosaurs, a Middle Eastern brushfire…" Hal continued, smiling.  
  
"…Let's not forget bringing the murderer of your old sweetheart to justice." Ivy replied and   
instantly wished she could've taken those words back, because Hal's smile lessened a bit.  
Hal could see her looking flustered and said, "It's OK."  
  
"I still shouldn't have…" Ivy began.  
  
"Ivy, what's done is done. I forgive you." Hal replied.  
  
The pair arrived at Tatiana's baby shower. In the middle of the room was a white crib with   
several gifts bestowed by well wishers to the new baby. "Hal! Ivy! It's so great to see you."   
Tatiana said, throwing her arms around both of them.  
  
"I see the morning sickness has passed." Hal began.  
  
"And the cravings have been getting strange. I've been running around stores all over the place   
trying to find pickled herring. I finally went to Mendelssohn's Grocers, down the street from   
Ivy's…" Zack began.  
  
"So next time ask me before I come over, I'll pick some up for you." Ivy began.  
  
As Hal and Ivy went to talk to Armando and Chief Wells, Corso came up to them, smiling, "I   
can taste my winnings coming now…"  
  
"Oh c'mon Corso, Ivy's car broke down, Hal just gave her a ride." Zack began.  
Jennifer and Louie stood off to one end, watching Hal and Ivy talking to each other. "He really likes her." Jen began.  
  
"Jen, Ivy's car broke down, Hal's just giving her a ride." Louie replied.  
  
"Explain why they're so close to each other on Tatiana's love seat?" Jen began.  
  
"Jen, they're just friends." Louie insisted.  
  
"Well, take a look at his right hand, it's right on top of her left." Jen replied.

* * *

Ivy had turned around to talk to Corso for a bit about something when she noticed the warmth   
of another hand atop her own. She turned to find Hal's right hand was on top of her left.   
Surprised and delighted she turned to face him.  
  
Hal for his part had not intended to be almost holding hands with Ivy. He had moved his right   
hand to his side and found it positioned atop Ivy's. It wasn't as if he disliked the contact, he   
loved being close to her but he still wasn't sure if it was just physical attraction.  
  
"Somebody's being affectionate today…" Ivy began.  
  
"…No less affectionate than I've been other days." Hal added.  
  
'That's twice in one day Darren, twice in one day he's taken your hand...' Ivy was thinking.  
  
That was when an Englishman in a three piece suit, out of place with the slightly more casually   
dressed baby shower attendees showed up. "Excuse me, where may I find First Lieutenant   
Harold Olden, Royal Marines."   
  
"That would be me." Hal replied, standing, gently disentangling Ivy's hand from his own, "What   
is the occassion?"  
  
"You're to be present at the British Embassy, tommorrow at 10 o'clock." the aide said, "That   
will be all, be sure to read the contents of the letter."   
  
The Englishman turned on his right heel and walked out the door. "It's blokes like that which   
give us English a bad name." Hal quipped.  
  
Ivy laughed lightly and read the letter over Hal's shoulder. "Congratulations." Ivy remarked.  
  
Hal turned towards her and said, "I'd like to keep that under wraps, I don't want to steal the   
new mommy's thunder..."   
  
"I don't think you need to worry about that, Limey." Ivy indicated Tatiana with a large crowd   
around her, mostly women.   
  
"Hey Ivy. Hal." Zack said, as he walked by with a drink in his hand, "I'd best drink some of the   
punch before Armando gets around to spiking it."  
  
"Hey, congratulations, dad." Hal replied, "Any word on its gender..."   
  
"Not yet. I'd love to have a sonogram done soon so I can figure out what clothes to buy our   
kid. I'd hate to have people constantly guessing its gender because its wearing yellow." Zack   
replied.  
  
Wells walked over and said, "Well I for one want to know the gender of the kid too, so I   
know what kind of cigars to buy."  
  
"I take it the bachelor party was a rousing success." Wells continued.  
  
Ivy stifled a laugh and Hal shot her a dirty look. "You're still miffed about the incident where   
you, Armando, Zack, and Lucas wound up in the county lockup." Ivy began, "Tatiana and I had to bail those four out of the slammer at two in the morning."  
  
Hal groaned and rolled his eyes as Ivy continued, smiling, "Hal and his old friend, Lucas were   
arguing with a severly hung over Armando, Zack was dying of a hangover and..."  
  
"...Not to mention clothed only in an orange prison jumpsuit two sizes too large, sir." Tatiana   
said, "Thankfully since it was his bachelor party I was merciful."  
  
"Bollocks." Hal interjected. You said you'd slot him if he did it again if I recall correctly."   
  
"I can see my future namesake's coming along quite nicely..." Wells said, patting Tatiana's   
slightly bulging midsection.  
  
"We still don't know it's gender sir." Tatiana began.  
  
"It's Grant when we're out of the office, Tatiana." Wells began.  
  
"Sorry sir...I mean Grant." Tatiana said.  
  
Wells looked at his two more senior detectives for some support in his current exasperation.   
Hal deadpanned, "It's that command presence of yours, sir."  
  
"How do you think this week will turn out, Hal?" Ivy asked him once Wells had gone off rolling   
his eyes.   
  
"I think it will be a relatively quiet one, Ninja Girl." Hal replied.  
  
"As they say. Famous last words." Ivy replied.  
  
"I'm willing to bet you dinner and a movie that all we do next week is paperwork and file   
reports. To be paid up next Friday." Hal replied.  
  
"You're on, Hal." Ivy replied.

* * *

TBC 


End file.
